Alesha had no idea what to do. According to the System's notification, Layla was already dead (a quick, unprofessional vitals check confirmed the fact), and, somehow, she had accidentally been the cause?
System, please help! I have no idea what the hell is going on!
[Hmm… well I have a theory. But as payment for sharing my theory I'm giving you a quest, okay? 'Kay.]
Without giving Alesha any time to reconsider, the System promptly issued a new quest.
*****
[Ding! New Quest Available!]
[Quest: I'm a Werewolf, You're a Werewolf!
Goal: Start a pack!
Quest Conditions: Bite and turn 3 individuals into Lycanthropes in the next 30 days.
Reward: +500 XP, +5 Chaos Energy
Penalty: Transform into a Lycanthrope for an hour at a time of the System's choosing -- and during the transformation, the System will be in control of your body!
Failure Condition(s): Fail to turn 3 individuals by the deadline]
*****
"Hakk!" Alesha said involuntarily. "What?! That's too steep a penalty for just sharing a theory!"
[You can always use your Quest Refusal Ticket if you don't like it~]
Alesha huffed. This one's deadline is unusually far away, why is that? She thought. But won't I be unable to turn anyone into a werewolf after this Story is over? I'm only a Werewolf temporarily, after all…
[Hint: your bite turns the bitten into a Lycanthrope even when you're not in this Story, silly goose,] the System prompted.
What? I don't remember that… oh. Wait, I do now. Alesha facepalmed as she recalled the Chaos Skill "Feral Bite" she'd thoughtlessly purchased from the Chaos Energy Shop earlier in the day. Had it really not even been a day since then? Thinking back, she had no way to be sure. The day had only just begun when she got it, then she was taken by the Alliance and slept for an unknown amount of time, after which she was interrogated, then, in short order, summoned to another world to participate in Zorhellian's "Storyteller Games." Just how much time had passed, exactly?
[It hasn't been a full day,] Rogork answered helpfully. [We were asleep for only a short time while the Alliance transported you, and most of your time since being summoned has been spent on this Island. Also, it's easier to tell if you check your Chaos Energy. You generate 1 per day, after all; even though the timing of it is affected somewhat by the world you're on, it will never be more than a day off.]
Alesha rolled her eyes. The Chaos Energy stat never being more than a day off didn't help when it was an error margin of a day that they were wondering about. Nonetheless… Thanks, Rogork. I'm glad you have a better sense of time than I do, at least.
Rogork didn't respond, exactly, but she felt a vague sense of self-satisfaction from it. It felt distinctly inhuman most of the time, but it could randomly be relatable at times -- like now. It had done well and was enjoying the simple satisfaction that came from being praised.
"Oh, right," Alesha remembered as she noticed Layla's corpse again. "What was your theory again? About why Layla died?"
[Ah. It's rather simple, really. You know how there are 3 assumed factions to this game? Villagers, Werewolves and Vampires? Well, considering you're the Werewolf and she bit you, she's a Vampire. Your role came with an oddly specific penalty, yes? Perhaps hers did as well. Considering the long-standing enmity between Vampires and Werewolves, and the fact that she died after biting you, her penalty was probably to die if she bit a Werewolf. Unluckily for her, she did just that on the very first day.]
Alesha sat for a moment while she thought. Rogork's theory actually fit remarkably well. Wait, you said something about long-standing enmity between Vampires and Werewolves?
[Yes, what about it?]
I just thought… they'd like, be friends or something? Since they're both monsters born from humans?
Rogork scoffed. [Seriously? Have you ever read any Vampire-Werewolf fantasy novels or seen the Midnight films from ancient Earth? It's a very well-known mythological "fact" that Werewolves and Vampires are nemesis. They fight over their food, after all.]
Alesha blushed, feeling indignant. What do you know? She asked. You're just a stupid System, born directly into my brain and without any outside knowledge. You can't even access the Net! I'm not trusting a word you say on the subject anymore.
[Suit yourself,] the System said pompously.
Meanwhile, Alesha stared at Layla's corpse, trying to decide what to do with it. Should I bury her? Leave her out and get as far away as possible, pretend I didn't find this stream with perfectly clear water?
The opportunity to decide on a course of action before anyone found out, however, was quickly taken from her.
"I SMELL A COOOOOOORPSE!" A short, tan young woman with a black bob cut shouted as she ran into view, waving a shovel above her head. Upon catching sight of Alesha, however, the woman stopped, straightened her clothes, and approached swiftly but calmly with the shovel propped up on her shoulder.
"Hello," she said. She was level-headed, quiet, reserved -- in stark contrast to the almost maniacal, overeager sight she'd been a moment ago. "May I ask whose corpse this is, and why you were staring at it so intensely? Are you, in fact, the killer?"
"Ah, hi," Alesha managed. Her mind went blank and she found herself spilling the truth -- except for the part that she was a Werewolf, of course. "Well, she bit me, and then she died?? I don't really get it either."
"Hmmmm," the woman replied, slanted eyes narrowed to slits as she leaned in closely to get a better look at her face. "Alright, I believe you. But you know we're going to have to report this to the group."
The look in her eyes seemed to taunt her: "Silence me if you dare!" But Alesha had no intention of doing so. She already felt bad enough that one person was dead because of her today, and had no desire to increase that count.
She purposefully suppressed all recollection of the hundreds who had died back home due to the Chaos Zombie Outbreak. That had been her fault, sure, but it had been Rogork's just as much. She'd have never fed Marshall Korak if it hadn't been for the stupid quest.
Still… The consequences that one dose of Korak had on her world were almost too much for her to bear.
Alesha shook herself, standing. "Do you want help burying her? And ah… sorry, what was your name again?" She asked.
"No!" The young woman protested quickly. "I'll bury her by myself. But if you want to help move her farther from the river before I do so, I'll gladly accept your help there. I'm Hallie. You?"
"Alesha."