SL: Chapter 721 – Day 5,914 – The Power Of A Vote

Tower 10 of 40
23 Towers Claimed
Quorum of 22 Required
Initiate Vote (YES/NO)

We were in the level 5 zone near Clarissa’s hidden base at the site of a tower I had already cleared. My hands were on the golden pillar as I carefully explained the information. I had cleared 22 of the 40 towers while the sword had cleared 1 of the 40 towers. That left me in complete control of the vote. I wasn’t taking any chances with this.

I had also cleared out all the nearby monsters so there was very little chance of being interrupted. Clarissa had also brought four of her people along to keep watch from my airship in all directions.

“What do you think?” I asked.

“A pre-vote, well I am going to say go with yes,” Clarissa said.

“No. It won’t be anything good,” Michelle said. I looked at her and she shrugged. “I really don’t think it is anything good. Since you wanted my opinion, I am giving it.” I then looked at Young Michael.

“Whatever you say,” he told me.

“You have a decision here. If you agree with me, it makes it a bit pointless,” I replied.

“Then Yes, since I believe you can handle anything,” he replied.

“I will vote yes as well. Three to one,” I said.

“Wait, what if there was a tie?” Young Michael asked.

“Then we would discuss it. I do reserve veto power, but I would prefer to reach a consensus. Now let’s see what this vote is about,” I said. It had been far too long since I had cleared the first tower. I wanted an answer.

I mentally chose ‘Yes’.

Vote Initiated
Quorum Achieved
Quorum Present
Pick the option you wish to initiate a vote on. Each option may be voted on multiple times as long as a quorum is present until it has passed. A vote will remain open until a majority has voted. Voting options will remain present and can be voted to reverse them at any time.
1. End Arrivals
2. End Environment
3. Create Exit Portal
4. Create Public Ranking
5. Contact Support

After I read everything off we were all silent. I noted Clarissa was writing everything down. “Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting. At all,” I said.

“Five options. Each option can be reversed. It sounds like an options menu,” Michelle said.

“You should pick the public ranking, you will be at the top for sure,” Young Michael said.

“That does sound like the least dangerous,” Clarissa said.

“Or it might trigger something,” I replied.

“Well whatever you do, don’t even think about picking option two. Ending the environment, sounds like a really bad idea,” Clarissa said.

“Thank you. I figured that much out myself. Let’s just go through them. Arrivals most likely means the people arriving every ten days. Does anyone disagree with that?” I asked. The Almighty System was as unhelpful as always. Why not give some descriptions? It was nice to know how the voting worked, but I wanted to know what I was voting on.

“It could be the monsters. We think of people as arriving, but the monsters could be arriving from storage or something,” Michelle pointed out.

“Anything besides monsters or people as a possibility?” I asked. No one said anything. “Should it even be considered?” I asked.

“No. While the death toll is high. We don’t know what would happen otherwise. It is likely that everyone is in some kind of storage since we are all showing up from the same day. You might be able to turn it back on, but what if no new people are brought here?” Clarissa asked.

“We had a population problems before,” I pointed out.

“And we just had a reset of everything due to the sphere. I am a strong no on the first option,” Clarissa said.

“I am no as well,” Michelle added but didn’t say anything else. I looked at Young Michael.

“Also, a no. People should be allowed to fight,” he declared.

“Alright, first option is a no as well from me. It might be revisited, but it seems everyone is in agreement on that one. Now voting option two. End Environment. It sounds like a bad idea, but is there any reason it isn’t a horrible idea?” I asked.

“We might get taken to the next place or stage. Since this place has a game theme, we might face higher level monsters or something. Like ending stage one,” Michelle said.

“Could be, but that is also a very bad outcome,” I said.

“I am more afraid we are all dumped in the rainbow dimension. Messing with the environmental option is an even bigger no than everything else,” Clarissa said. Michelle and Young Michael nodded in agreement.

“Alright, option two is a super hard no. Not something to be revisited casually either like we might for the first option. Now onto the interesting options. Create Exit Portal,” I said.

“The question is where would the exit lead to? We don’t know if this place is working properly or not. What if it let’s something through?” Clarissa said.

“That seems unlikely. The Almighty System seems to be running this place fairly well. Only the sphere was a major issue. The rest of the enemies have been idiots with meta-points or a bit too much craziness. Or both,” I muttered.

“Could we handle what is on the other side? If this is a training area, then what is the expected combat level of someone before leaving? Level 9, level 10?” Michelle asked. That was a much more valid question.

“We could open it and just look through,” Young Michael suggested. We all looked at each other considering the idea. It didn’t sound that bad.

“Let’s put that as a possibility for now. I am tempted to go with what Young Michael said, but Clarissa had a good point that that there could be something dangerous. So, it will remain a maybe,” I said.

“We aren’t voting?” Young Michael asked.

“It is in the maybe category. I want to consider the last two options before we come back to option three. Create Public Ranking. I don’t see any downsides?” I asked.

“It would reveal your strength. But it might draw out hidden enemies,” Clarissa said.

“Who would still be hiding after all this time? If they are, I would like to know about them. Also I am curious how I am ranked against that stupid sword now,” I said.

“I am a strong yes on this,” Young Michael said. We all looked at him. “Michael is the best. It would confirm it and make things easier in the cities when people ask who he is. He can just say, ‘Michael’.”

“Reputation recovery would be interesting. But would we show up on such a list?” Clarissa asked.

“Oh, now I am curious how strong you really are?” Michelle asked while giving Clarissa a full body look up and down.

“Strong enough. I don’t see any major downsides. I don’t like revealing information, but there are upsides to knowing how strong people are. And we can always reverse the vote. So, the list doesn’t have to remain up,” Clarissa pointed out.

“I am also going to vote yes. Since it would be a good way to test out the voting functionality before you vote on other options,” Michelle said.

“Alright. Before I vote on option four, there is option five I want to consider. Contact Support. What the hell is support?” I asked.

“The Avatar,” Michelle said.

“No. Absolutely not. No. Hundred percent nada,” I instantly said.

“Really?” Clarissa asked me.

“If she is somehow still around or is brought back because of the vote, I will be very upset. Out of sight, out of mind. I hope she is dead and gone for all time. Never to be seen or heard of again,” I said.

“We might get some answers,” Clarissa pointed out.

“And if it is the Avatar it would be worse than getting no answers,” I replied.

“Would the Almighty System get annoyed?” Young Michael asked.

“Doubtful. It is a voting option, and we aren’t trying to cause trouble,” Clarissa said.

“As if that matters to the Almighty System,” I replied.

“It probably won’t be the Avatar, forget I said anything,” Michelle said.

“I know it probably won’t be, but it would be nice to actually ask someone or something questions about this place. I think it should be our first vote,” I said.

“What should we ask if something does show up? We won’t have time to discuss a good question and we don’t want to waste time. Better to have something prepared,” Clarissa suggested.

“Where the exit portal leads. What happens to the people not here if we turn off arrivals. And finally, where is Earth and why were we brought here. I think those are the best three questions in order,” I said.

“I would have put Earth first, but that is fine,” Michelle replied.

“I have no issues with your choices,” Clarissia said.

“I believe in you,” Young Michael added.

While it was tempting to go with option four as the first vote, I wanted answers after coming this far. I turned back to the golden pillar, taking a deep breath and mentally preparing myself for whatever would show up. Even if it was the Avatar, I vowed to be as polite as possible. It would be hard not to set up a bureaucratic hell for her again, but I would try to resist.

I honestly didn’t think there would be much of a chance of the Avatar actually showing up. While it could happen, it seemed highly unlikely. But I was mentally preparing myself for such a disaster to occur. She really would turn a moment of triumph into some sort of hell.

I hesitated before I picked the fifth option. Was it the right choice? I didn’t sense any danger, but I knew in my gut that this would start something that couldn’t be undone. All these long days of suffering were finally leading to this singular moment. Defeating impossible and crazy enemies, to finally get this far. This was something no one else had accomplished.

Before I might have felt inferior to the Divine Empress in many ways, but now I felt that I had surpassed in everything, standing here, ready to move pull back the veil on this place. Getting answers instead of focusing on human misery.

I mentally selected the fifth option. There was no confirmation.

Vote Contact Support Initiated
(Yes/No)

I felt a mental ping. I instantly knew a vote had started. Interesting. That was how the Almighty System would let people know. “You feel that?” I looked at everyone else and just got confused looks. “I got a mental ping when I started the vote, but none of you did?”

Everyone gave a negative. At least I would know if someone else started a vote. I put all my votes into ‘Yes’.

Vote Contact Support Initiated
22 Yes
1 Uncounted
Majority Reached
Vote Closed
Contacting Support Initiated

I let everyone know what happened and we all waited with baited breath. Would the Avatar show up? Or some other representation of the Almighty System? The tension and suspense kept building.