[LP CYOA] 傳

Codexian LARPer decision flow - aka a look inside the mind of a schizophrenic hivemind:

Let's join the tournament and not use our techniques.
Let's bro up with everyone and maybe we can work as a team. We love Guo Fu! He's Bro Fu lol!
Now let's leave our "friend" Gou Fu to be attacked by the enemy on his own so we can meet with some people who may give us stuff.
Let's beat the shit out of Guo Fu using all of our ultra-lethal techniques taught to us by an unrepentant murderer and let's do it in full view of our enemies who will doubtlessly come up with counters for each one of our attacks.

*sigh*

 

That's pretty much it.

 

Oh, it does make you wonder why there are even fights between martial artists, doesn't it? It should be a situation where either:

a) Everyone is too busy hiding their techniques to actually fight because letting others see it means defeat as they know how your technique works now.

b) Everyone is countering each other's techniques all day, every day, and each fight eventually ends up being a pointless stalemate of counters.

 

Or person who made counter don't posses enough stats to pull it being seriously outclassed.
It could be that person dont have enough wits, perception, experience to start developing counter.

When next update is scheduled?

 

Might as well ask, why do governments spend millions in military weapons research, when it boils down to an arms race and who has counters to what, and who has counters to those too; or why merchants try to outclass/undercut/marginalize their competitors. Or why farmers try to grow more/better/both. No conflict, no progress.

Hell, maybe we are overanalyzing and overthinking this shit. Yeah, having long-terms is good, but being paralyzed by them isn't. For a guy like Jing, to whom shit simply happens, maybe it's not a great idea to treat him like Senya/Shulgi.

 

I had a bit of free time, so, now.

Baltika9 - A
Esquilax - B
Zero Credibility - A
Azira - A
ERYFKRAD - A
Smashing Axe - B>A
Kayerts - B>C
Ifeex - A
Nevill - B
Jester - A
Ganymede - A
Kashmir Slippers - A
TOME - A
Kipeci - A
asxetos - B
m4davis - A
Stygian Lurker - A
Tigranes - B>C
XenomorphII - A
Lambchop19 - B
Absinthe - A
ScubaV - A
Grimgravy - A

A - 16
B - 7

 

Tournament Semifinals: Yifang

You nod at the tournament official to signal that you are fine, and turn your gaze back towards Guo Fu. He is patiently awaiting you, his hands held up in an open palm stance. You take a crouching stance in response, your back hunched over and your fingers curling into claws. Your left arm is still hurting you, but that doesn’t seem to matter so much now. You can’t help but grin under your mask as your fingers twitch in anticipation. Breathing in deeply, you allow your chaotic qi to flow through you freely. A turbulent warmth rushes forward from the center of your body and floods your extremities. You lean forward just slightly and kick off the ground without warning.

Guo Fu’s eyes widen as you cross ten paces in the blink of an eye. His massive arm shoots out in defense, but your approach is too low for him to hit. He misses the back of your head by a hair’s breadth. Your Shouwang Claws sweep towards his leg, hitting the side of his calf. It is as if you are attempting to dig into rock. A less sturdier opponent would have been thrown off his feet by the force of your blow, but Guo remains unmoved. You tumble aside as a fist thuds into the boards that make up the stage floor. There is a crack as the wood splinters. That blow would have ended the fight if it landed. Regaining your posture before he does, you pounce to the attack again.

Your claw arcs from the top and strikes him square on the shoulder, forcing one of his knees to buckle under the strength of your attack. In the next instant, however, Guo Fu throws you off with a shout. He is quick enough to follow up with a jab to your chest. That is trivial enough for you to evade, sliding under the punch. You retaliate with a Chuzhan Fist. It barrels into his abdomen, your tempestuous qi throwing off your aim. This time, however, Guo Fu is more prepared. Instead of being knocked down, you merely manage to force him to take two steps back.

You press your advantage, stepping forward and continuing to perform the first style of the Chuzhan Fist. Your blow strikes home again, forcing him another step back. As you throw your third punch, Guo suddenly leans forward, taking your fist right in his chest. You see him visibly wince; you may have cracked a couple of his ribs with that blow.

Even so, his goal is achieved. He grabs your right arm before you can retract it. With his other hand, he prepares to deliver a knockout blow.

You try to tug your way out of his grasp, but he is too strong, and no amateur at grappling either. His grip is firm. His fist drives towards you. There is no more time to evade.

With your left hand, you draw your sword in a reverse grip. Guo Fu’s punch strikes the blade of the sword, pressing it hard against your injured forearm. You fancy that you can hear your bones creaking even further, the cracks widening. Still, your block is successful. Flipping the sword around, you strike at his wrist with the sword’s hilt. The sudden attack forces him to let go. You toss your sword to your right hand and go on the offense.

Within a few blows, you start to understand how frustrated Murong Yandi must have been in his fight. You are not sure whether Guo Fu is equally impervious to an actual sharp blade, but he must have immense inner strength reserves to utilize his neigong to such an extent. More frighteningly, the more you attack, the less effect it seems to have on him as he draws upon more and more of his qi – and he doesn’t seem to be running out any time soon. Thankfully, your unpredictable and speedy movements means that he is entirely unable to mount a proper offense as long as he doesn’t catch you like he just did.

That isn’t going to win you the match, however. You are just going to tire yourself out like Murong Yandi did.

After putting some distance between you and him, you lunge forward with the Pine-Cutting Sword. Guo Fu’s gaze sharpens as he steadies himself and hardens his body. He shouts as your sword hits his neck. The blade breaks – it was shoddily made anyway and you saw it coming – but you take that chance to stop your momentum and instead swing away, striking Guo Fu on the cheek with the flat of the broken blade, stunning him for just a while.

You let go of the hilt and launch an all-out attack.

With just your right hand, you rain down wild claws on Guo Fu from all sides as you give yourself entirely over to your neigong, sacrificing precision for speed. Every time you strike, you change your clawed fingers into a gentle palm and follow up by executing the first move of the Xianglong Palms. That way, you find that you are able to control the direction and power of your subsequent claw strikes better despite your chaotic neigong. Given no time to recover, Guo Fu is slowly but steadily forced towards the edge of the ring, his own attacks meeting nothing but thin air as you bob and weave in between blows. His breath grows more and more ragged as your ceaseless attacks begin to disrupt his focus.

Suddenly, your erratic qi slows down for just a second. You miss a step. Guo Fu does not miss the opportunity. You find yourself again in the path of his powerful fist.

You will not be able to block it again. Your only option is to meet his blow with one of your own – the only move you can perform in time is to throw your most powerful attack, the Bloody Diamond Horn, with the left arm that you had been trying not to favour.

Your open hand meets his closed fist with bone-shattering force. Indeed, you do imagine you can feel the bones of your arm shatter as you do so. The pain is excruciating, but on the other hand Guo Fu is thrown back, lifted into the air by the force of your blow.

You jump immediately, going after him before he can regain his balance. Drawing your right palm back, you channel all the qi you can muster and smash it down into Guo Fu’s huge body. He slams into the floor, cracking the wood, and tumbles backwards in a noisy flurry of heavy limbs. When he comes to a stop, he has landed just outside the ring area. You drop to your knees as the gong is sounded, watching Guo Fu get to his knees looking extremely battered from your blows. His eyes seem to be shining with respect.

…You think you are going to need to have words with him about his stupid strength afterwards.

The crowd, which had been watching in tense silence till now, breaks out into a loud roar at your victory. The sound of their exhilaration echoes around the tournament area.

Then, you pass out.

***

When you come to, you are in the treatment area. Your broken arm has been bandaged and secured tightly. No one seems to be around. Well, no one, except for that perpetual annoyance Chi Qilin, who is still lounging around despite probably having recovered from her injuries. She grins at you, her face uncomfortably close.

“You missed a lot of things while you were sleeping,” she says.

“I missed a lot of things, but not you. What are you still doing here?”

She pouts and pokes you hard in the broken arm. “I’m still recovering, you idiot. Anyway, I’m sure you wanted to see Cao’er. She was here just a moment ago, treating your injuries. She says that arm is not going to heal completely by tomorrow, but she will make an effort to render it usable tonight. For now, you are not to move it at all.”

“My next opponent is Yifang,” you chuckle. “I don’t think I will need to.”

“What do you mean? Are you going to forfeit? Or do you have a plan?” She looks anxious all of a sudden.

“Maybe,” you say liltingly. “What’s the matter, did you bet money on me?”

“Don’t be such a tease!” she fumes. “Especially when it comes to money. What are you going to do next?”

“Why don’t you watch and find out? By the way, who removed my mask?”

She sighs as you change the subject. “Cao’er did. Interestingly, when the tournament officials were carrying you off, the Huashan and Taishan disciples were jeering for you to be unmasked. Of course, when they did that there were louder calls for the mask to stay on by the rest of the crowd. Luckily for you, the tournament officials seemed more concerned with getting you to the treatment area. Cao’er took over rather quickly. I’ve never seen that girl so worried or so bossy before. She managed to glare the tournament officials out of the room in five seconds flat.”

“Well, I’m just surprised that she didn’t wait around for me to wake up,” you say.

“…of course I am around, Jing,” whispers a voice from behind you. You can’t help but freeze up.

“But-“ -you look accusingly at Qilin- “-you said she wasn’t here!”

“Oh, not my fault you only have eyes for me and didn’t notice your dear little physician standing on the other side of the bed,” giggles Qilin.

“…it’s okay. You can have his eyes. I’ll take… something else…” mumbles Cao’er.

You spend the rest of your recuperating time being toyed with again by Cao’er and Qilin.

***

Right before the semifinal match, Qi Liuwu appears again, grinning widely. “Performed just as I expected. Excellent work, kiddo.”

You raise your broken arm slightly in protest. “I do get a part of the winnings, right? Master Qi?”

“Ah… about that…” he looks away guiltily.

“I’m the one putting my body on the line out there, Master Qi.”

“Fair enough, fair enough,” he sighs. “The problem is, I put all our winnings into your next match.”

“Great. Did you bet with Abbess Miecao this time?” you groan.

“Oh, no. She wouldn’t take a bet nowadays, and she said that even if she did, she would be crazy to bet on Yifang against you. Apparently it’s not a matter of skill, but she thinks you are just naturally the worst match-up for that girl.”

“So, the Abbot again?”

“Yes. He’s really the only one who’ll bet with me now that Wang ran off to meditate. I’m going to clean that old baldie up to make up for all the other bets over the years. So… please don’t lose.”

***

The crowd cheers louder than ever for you when you arrive on stage with your bandaged arm. You give them a wave of acknowledgement, sending them into a frenzy.

This time, you are facing Yifang in the semifinals. The stage has been repaired in the downtime between matches. The pretty nun stands a fair distance away from you, her guard up. She seems calm and focused. Her gaze and stance are steady, a far cry from how she usually is, though she appears to be mumbling sutras continuously. You can tell that she would give you a good fight even when you are in perfect condition. With your broken arm and dwindling stamina, however, taking her on will be extremely difficult even if you do have a counter for her Qingcheng Stab.

It is probably for times like this that you kept that with you…

***

A. Use Item: Yifang’s Skull Cap

B. You think you would rather fight fairly. Surely she deserves better?

C. You decide to forfeit the match, citing your poor condition.

 

B: I don't think lulz will work again.

 

A baby!

Also, take of the mask.

 

Fight fair against Yifang? Jing?

Opt out? Our stubborn fighter?

Seems we have just one option left to us. Really. A

 

A - Press whatever advantage we possibly can.

 

How would we use the Skull Cap, anyway?

 

This isn't even a choice. A.

 

Show must go on, especially since Qi Liuwu has bet on us again. Even though we were unconscious at the time. I hope he isn't planing to do that the third time, we might not be so lucky against the Nameless.

I'm thinking A as it sounds like it would give us some edge by pissing her off and throwing her off balance. We would probably wear the thing, right?

Oh, and lose the shirt to make her extra uncomfortable.

 

Uh, no. Don't think so.

 

Then I'm not even sure I want to know.

 

Note though, Guo Fu was not in the treatment area. Seems the fears that we might inadvertently kill him were unfounded.

 

A

Because I am really curious how it gets used.

 

You guys have done well in calling treave's bluffs so far.

But one day your overconfidence will be your undoing. One day our terrible luck will punish us for our risktaking.

And on that day, I will be there to gloat and say... "I told you so".

 

treave, would an extremely perceptive person by able to detect a pattern in our neigong? I know that the movements are uncontrolled and erratic, but I doubt that they're completely random either. Would a really keen observer would be able to recognize a pattern to exploit in all the chaos?

Conspiracy theory: the Masters know that Zhang's disciple is probably going to challenge the Eight Sects, so Qi Liuwu is encouraging us to win so that he can watch our style more and more.

No, Jing would wear the skull cap around his cock and oblige her to take it from him. As she reaches for us angrily with the Qingcheng Stab, we counter her with our Deceptive Fish Stab. Emei Sect: - 100. I actually wouldn't be surprised if Jing did something like this.

I think that I've watched the Rocky movies enough to know that this means that we'll be best friends from now on. Holy shit, Guo Fu is one insanely tough motherfucker. It took Zhang's most brutal techniques to put a dent in him. Honestly, I already respected the mad bastard already, but this fight really showed the effectiveness of his techniques. The orthodox stuff is effective, of course, but if you're up against someone who is basically a massive mountain of muscle that even a heavy hitter like Jing can't break through, Zhang's stuff works like a charm.

As far as this choice goes, Yifang is naive and came to fight us so that she could understand us. I wonder, could we gain an advantage here by playing fair for once? She's really focused coming into the ring and I'm worried that using the skull cap might make her more determined, rather than more willing to fall into our game.

A for now. We're in deep, and we gotta win the tournament now that we've exposed ourselves.

 

A.

 

Let me note one thing. Given treave's comment about our damaged arm and dwindling stamina, I think the consequence to B would be that even if we win, we will be in no condition to take on Nameless. I think Choosing B here will essentially rule out winning the tournament.

So, do we really, really want to win, given what we know now of Nameless (not Shun's enemy, but probably planning something violent, Persian, weird fighting style we won't have easy exposure to)? Or do we feel that we're better off bowing out, either immediately or after giving it a good go?

I don't know. I don't mind my options not winning, but after the last vote, I don't see how any of the current options could lead to a good outcome for any of our medium term plans. I don't think we can win the tournament playing fair and square after our exacerbated injury, but we've already shown so much of ourselves that forfeiting with C is also rather suboptimal. And I think everyone is now expecting some kickass fighting from us. But that's ultimately not the most important thing, is it? Same as the beggar's bets? I mean, he is a beggar.

C for now. I'm really convinced that there's going to be some trouble at the end of the tournament, I've beenc onvinced of that since the start, and I don't think we should literally give it everything we've got - skills, bones, testicles - just for what? A Shaolin technique manual? Sorry, we already have a lot of techniques, a lot of opportunities to get more, and we have plenty of opportunities to beat Yifang, too, with two arms not one.

 

So you are dropping out of the tournament because of... something?

There is literally no reason left not to win now that we had shown our hand and the masters know of our identity. Might as well enjoy ourselves.

 

A - We have to win now.

edit: really, though: from now on, I'm making all my decisions based on the fact that you are all a bunch of ADD fuckers playing a power fantasy. Maybe it will still work out, but heck we all agreed it'd be bad to reveal our techniques during the tournament. If you have a strategy in place, you should stick to it, not throw it out for a skill boost and an ego satisfying, though possibly Pyrrhic, victory. So much facepalm, bros. Ah, well. Great update nonetheless.

 

A

I can't really think of negative side effect of us using it, unless it will piss off all the nuns. I think that they would be cool with it... somewhat.