>>35520304
>[] On a field trip. A standard vacation complex in well-forested mountains.

Oh Pee you're back! (´･ω･`)

>>35520334
>>35520336
I'm glad to see you guys. I was afraid I'd lost everyone with my constant delays. A few more minutes and I'll start writing.

DSQ WHEN?!

>>35520304
>[] On a field trip. A standard vacation complex in well-forested mountains

>>35520304
>[] On a field trip. A standard vacation complex in well-forested mountains

Whats so scary about kigurumi?

>[] On a field trip. A standard vacation complex in well-forested mountains.
Fun stuff always happens on long(-distance) field trips. Like popping of cherries. Ah, memories.

I miss you, OOQ! Am glad shelling stopped and you may quest. Is nice day today.

>>35520366
How's next Tuesday sound?

>>35520484
>Today was a good day. Didn't have to kill nobody. Afghan syndrome is kicking in.

>>35520334
>>35520377
>>35520460
>>35520396
(It sure does.)
Large masked figures intimidate me. The fact that the person inside might have a secret and deadly agenda doesn't help matters.

Writing!

>>35520484
Indeed, would be pity for him to stop, say maybe shelling recommence if he no continue, maybe nice day turn no so nice if he no continue.

>>35520506
>How's next Tuesday sound?
Awesome.

Somewhere in the Carpathian mountains, at the center of that region, stood several wooden houses. Two floors, three floors, nice and spacious.

It was raining.

I remember Danya, his friends and his girlfriend on the next bed over. The lights were cut due to curfew, but the lamps worked, as did the sockets. They were cracking jokes and playing cards, Marina gave him playful shoves when he made another one of his dirty jokes.

The day was hard. It took us 3 hours by bus to get to town, where we went around museums and listened to a lecture about investing into natural resources and tourism. I think it was called... "Undeveloped Land and the Intelligent Investor: More for Less". Then the supervisors took us sightseeing. On fucking foot. Through the fucking mountains. Fuuuck.

It was probably the first day of our week-long trip that we felt glad to be in this well-kept mountain home with faux-retro furniture. Dim light made the windows glow a bright gray, but left the room dark. The fuzzy light of our lamps contrasted with the cold glare of the rain sky to emphasize how sheltered we were. From the deluge. From everything.

I laid on my bed and listened to the droplets beating against plastic windows, unable to stifle a laugh from an genunely good joke, rare as it was. The atmosphere was good, right between a loose crowd in a comedy club and a warm fireplace on a windy autumn evening.

We didn't notice the noises outside.

It happened so fast. They were right next to me one moment, dragging another bed next to the first one and looking for something to use as a table between the two.

I did. I chose to pretend otherwise. Why.

They barged in unannounced. Told us to get down or "fucking die!"

>[] Well, I didn't. I just laid there and said, "Can't get more down that this, sir!"
>[] So I did. Rolled right off and hit the floor, then rolled under the bed.
>[] Custom.

>>35520681
>[] Well, I didn't. I just laid there and said, "Can't get more down that this, sir!"

Reminder we'll never see more smut from OOP

>>35520771
This is where I'd say "GOOD smut, that is!", but... you know.

>>35520771
Oh yes we will, even if I have to start shelling him again.

We shall get our delicious DDD smut and DSQ lewds.

"Can't get more down than this, sir!"

Blew the rails off my bed with a shot above my ear. I most definitely earned that.

They blindfolded us after that and led us down the hallway. Our hands cuffed, strung along in a line like slaves, we walked down into the basement.

Maybe it was luck. Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was their intel.

We didn't have to wait long, siting on the cold floor with out backs against the brick walls. We weren't alone, either: all the Markov students were there, by the sounds of it. Our whole grade, all hundred-odd of us. Several of the masked men walked in circles about the great, wide basement. Like chains, their footsteps were heavy, and like chains, their feet made an awful, oppressive sound as they dragged along the floor. The awkward demi-silence of quiet sobs and soft words of encouragement was finally interrupted by just one thing: somebody entered.

The murmurs died. The sobs faded. The words evaporated.

As if by instinct, everybody knew: the ringleader of this black circus was here. As if by telepathy, everybody had thought the same thing - and were right.

Although they spoke in a language we couldn't comprehend, somebody did, and whispered just loud enough for all to hear, "It's him! He's the leade-"

THUD!

And silence. Respect, it seems, is taken rather than received.

He walked along our line that hugged the wall, and went through almost everyone before he stopped at me.

"This one. Get him."

Two hands forced me up and turned me around, unlocking my bonds. I took the blindfold off myself.

That man was definitely...
>[] A sadist.
>[] An official.
>[] A rebel.

>>35520681
>[] Well, I didn't. I just laid there and said, "Can't get more down that this, sir!"

>>35520983
>[] A rebel

>>35520983
>[] A rebel.
I really want to stab this cunt in the throat just for interrupting our shitty school excursion

>>35520983
>an official
Conspiracy time please

>>35521023
>>35521047
>>35521113
[It appears "rebel" wins.]

That man was definitely a rebel. In green fatigues and sore need of a shave, he was only missing a cigar to be the poster child of a liberally-challenged, but bold and charismatic regime.

He had very kind eyes.

He took out a carton and offered me a cigar. Rather thin, pretty long. It felt nice and weighty in my hands, and certainly looked impressive when compared to plain, white cigarettes. He lit a long hunter's match and I took a breath through the tobacco.

Rough, I'd call it. Rough on the throat, but it smelled like the essence of the great outdoors.

"Local-made," he said.

I nodded knowingly, taking another pull.

"Like it, right?"

"Sure do."

I knew, at least, that disagreeing was not the way to go. I was playing along this well already, I couldn't commit a faux pas here.

"We make plenty of things out here. Ourselves. We're real proud of it, too, you know? This..." He took a pause, clearly intentional. "Land, it feeds and shelters us. It gives us all we need. Shouldn't we give something back? Say, where are you from?"

"Don't know."

"Huh." For a moment, he looked disoriented. Clearly the charismatic, not the intellectual type. "Well, my men tell me you came here all the way from New Babylon. Can you confirm that?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me, you got a place to call home?"

"Uh-huh. But I don't want to go back."

"What's wrong back home?"

"It's not really my home, that's all. Friends of my family."

"And you didn't want to intrude, right?"

"Yeah, exactly." For a moment there, I almost thought we were on the same page. The man, who looked like a guerrilla fighter, put his hand around my shoulders.

"If only everyone was like you. Not everybody understands that you shouldn't stay where you're not wanted."

Not wanted. Something about that made a gash in my heart. Bitterness.

However, I knew where he was going with this. Just as he opened his grizzled jaw, I interrupted.
[1/2]

"We can leave right now!" A wave of accord ran through the basement. "So if you just-"

"But it's not about just you!" It was his turn to interrupt me. "It's about the whole Empire. It's about those that keep sending you and others like you here!"

"We'll get out if you just let us go-"

"We have to send a message." He paused and looked into my eyes.

I felt my skin crawl. I had an idea of what he meant. A very good idea.

"You'll just kill me, too. I won't do it." At some point in the conversation, the cigar fell out of my hand and onto the floor. The man stepped on it and ground it into the floor.

"You have my word that we'll leave you alone if you do as we say. And if you don't believe that, you can also have my word that your death will be very... methodical, if you don't."

This, I found easier to trust.

"He gave me a big knife and told me to cut their heads off," the leader spoke, taking out a black tool of murder. Not hunting. Murder. "That's what you'll tell the officials when they get here."

"I won't do it."

"You're not too bright, are you? You can either do it yourself and put them out of their misery quickly, or..."

>[] "I refuse!"
>[] "Fine! Fine."
>[] Custom.

>>35521374
>[] "Fine! Fine."
>[] Custom.
Stab the fucker in the throat

>>35521410
Nice. Going with this if there's support.

>>35521410
And by fucker I mean this cunt who thinks randomly killing some school kids is in any way productive to his cause.

>>35521410
Sure.
Just to be clear, he's telling us to kill our classmates?

>>35521466
He is, but I want to make it like like we give in, take the knife and then stab him instead

>>35521466
For all we know, he could be making us kill the whole year.

>>35521484
Pff. Hehe. With a knife?

>>35521491
"Come on, kid. I've had to do harder shit when I was getting hazed in camp."

>>35521507
It's not about the "difficulty" but the quantity.

>>35521516
You'll see.

Writing.

"Fine! Fine. Just... give it here. I'll do it."

"Good, good." Just like that, he handed me the thing. I almost dropped it out of my hands, it was that heavy. Less a combat knife and more a medieval sword.

I looked at it, turning it over in my hands. A machete, or at least close enough to pass for one.

"How do you want me to..?" I asked him, as a distraction.

"Well, it'd be great if you could take their heads and-"

I swung.

He caught it.

"That's not what we agreed on." He squinted at me. "At all."

I began to shake. Not out of fear, but because of how unfair it seemed.

"How am I- supposed to- kill them- because you just- told me- to?" My voice began to get caught in my throat.

"Oh, that's simple. You can do it yourself..."

He picked up a girl on the floor by her ponytail. Then he gutted her. Ran the cold steel into her stomach and down her abdomen.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The wail split my ears. I watched as her intestines slipped out of the crevice in her body, mesmerized. Her t-shirt was only partially split by the cut, and some of the digestive tract fell on either side of the cloth. Then the man who had only minutes ago given me a smoke stabbed her again. He angled it higher and thrusted it in. The scream died down.

"Or we can do that."

I had to make a conscious effort to pick my jaw back up.

"If you still want to play the hero, I promise that you won't get off quite as easy." He dropped the body to the floor, crumpling instantly, making a sloshing noise in what was once inside it. "But there's no need for that, is there?"

He put a hand on my should and looked right into my eyes. This time, I knew. Those specks of blood on his cheekbones will be mine if I refuse.
[1/2]

>>35521775
Ahahaha. Ahaha. Aha. Ha. ;_;

One. Another.

Blood flew.

One. Another.

Heads rolled aside.

One. Another.

Just another bag of meat. By the time half the year was gone, I was already looking at this ordeal as a chore rather than as an act of mercy.

Did you know? Butchering your whole year gives you a great opportunity to think. For example, I had already realized that I would probably be asked to stay and help with similar "operations". If I were to survive, that is. But even that's a stretch.

I'd just gut myself when the last few would be up. Our whole year was... 105? 107 students strong? About that. I had already decided I'd leave the last couple of people to their grisly fate and slash my own throat. By the time the guards check, I'll have already bled out.

Right? Right.

They had sent me to a separate room in the basement, the warehouse section. Turns out, if you move some junk aside, there's a very nice clearing to put a table in. And just enough space to give a good swing.

If I was more conceited, I'd say I was aiming for a certain part of the neck to kill as quickly as I could. But I'm not, so I won't say I did.

...

Time passed.

I sat on the floor, next to the table, back against some shelves, in a pool of blood.

I didn't even care anymore. I didn't care that this human, still-warm blood felt disgusting. I didn't care that I was beginning to doubt whether or not should've just let them torture me. I'm going to hell for this anyway, right?

I didn't care.

They took a look inside, eventually. I had my hands crossed over my knees, still holding the large knife. The guy shook me and asked me if I was alright. Like fucking hell I was alright.

"Boss, I think he's broken!"

>[] "I'm not fucking broken, bumblefuck. Send the next one in."
>[] "..."
>[] Custom.

>>35522021
Stare at him, let your eyes bore into his soul. Then spit in his face.

>>35522021
Seconding >>35522072
And stab him in the throat

>>35522021
>"The only broken thing is you, fuckface."

Then begin stabbage.

Well this went grimderp fast...

>>35522095
One thread only. We'll get out soon enough.

>>35522095
It's been said that MC is a sociopath, and now's a good enough time to figure out why.

>>35522110
He doesn't strike me as a fully fledged sociopath, but he does have strong sociopathic tendencies nonetheless

>>35522101
random tangent, but I'm not seeing the connection between the end of the last thread and the beginning of this one, seems very random

>>35522136
Wait 'til the end of the thread.

>>35522140
buuuut mooooooooooooom

>>35522072
>>35522089
>>35522090
I just stared at him. I stared until he looked back at me and noticed. He tried to pull off some kind of macho facade with an angry look, but I just kept staring. I felt confident that he wouldn't do a damn thing - and I was right. He just scrunched up his mug and turned tail to run.

"...Shit, little brat gives me creeps."

I heard him say this as he closed the door behind him. But then I heard something better:

"Yeah, don't catch a heart attack from the heebie-fucking-jeebies."

"Fuck you."

That was enough to put a smirk on my face. Even people like this are still people. Kind of, at least. Maybe just a bit.

The door opened up again and they shoved the next victim in. This would be the last one, I decided. I'd cut it here and off myself with just a little in reserve. But then I took a better look. The captive in front of me had their blindfold removed, and I instantly recognized her green eyes.

Shanoa.

"Have fun if you want," the muscle-head said, and then the door slammed firmly shut once more.

"Uh." I opened the dialogue with my best icebreaker.

"Yeah." A stellar parry, as expected of Shanoa. The girl who relentlessly continued to put me to the test that whole year. The girl who kept her nerve even when she knew jack squat - just like me.

Maybe she had a pl-

"So, any ideas?"

Welp. There's that.

"Just get on the fucking table."

"Come on, you wouldn't-"

"Get on the table. Like it or not, you're gonna have to get on the table. Everybody gets on the table. Don't like it? Too bad! There's the table! Want to file a complaint? Come to the table! Want something different? Just close your eyes. Ready to open them? Surprise! It's the fucking table! Get on."

"Uh, Darius?"
[1/2]

I guess that did it as far as breaking the ice goes.

"Sorry. This whole- all this is just getting to me. I can't hold it together this long."

"We can still get out!"

"No. That door is the only way out. How many are left?"

"Me and two more- "

"Good. You can get the axe, I'll kill myself at the next guy."

"Come on. Don't be like that. We can make it!"

Frankly, this had begun to get on my nerves.

"How?! How do you plan to get out of this. Huh? Tell them to open up, show some tits? Or do you want me to strangle two burly dudes and bolt out of here at the speed of light? Sorry, I forgot - I've got a knife, too. That will be a big help against AKs. Yeah."

Slap!

"Seriously, when did you become such a pansy? Where's the Darius who told our History teacher to go fuck himself, hm?"

"..."

"Look at me." She took my face into her hands. "Look me in the eyes."

"I'm looking."

"We can do this. They take the bodies out once every 5 people."

"How did-?"

"Stop. That can wait. There's two bodies there, right? Me and the other guys will just hide under them. We'll slather some blood on your neck to make it look like you're dead. Then when they flip you over-"

"Seriously?"

"Yes! Seriously! Then when they turn you over, we'll jump out and scare them - then you'll have to throw your knife at one of them and take his rifle. We'll try to hold off the other guy so you can shoot him. That's two rifles and a really big knife - we can break out like that!"

>[] "Alright. It's the best we've got. I guess."
>[] "I think you forgot what happened to the first of us."
>[] Custom.

>>35522561
>[] "Alright. It's the best we've got. I guess."
this woman, she must enter the harem

>>35522561
>[] "Alright. It's the best we've got. I guess."

>>35522561
>Custom
Steal a kiss. Spur of the moment, we-might-die-so-I-want-to-get-it-done. It is Dari's first kiss right?
>[] "Alright. It's the best we've got. I guess."

Heading to bed, I leave Dari's fate to you.

>>35522812
>Heading to bed
I'm about to collapse soon to, stupid fucking timezeons

>>35522615
We've yet to encounter her, so I think we can assume she's dead.

>>35522890
Uhh nope, IIRC she's the crazy green haired one who competes in the tournaments with us.

>>35522890
>>35522937
The surest sign of character bloat. O a poor sense of humor on my part.

Had to grab a bite, sorry for not leaving a warning. I've got about 2 hours left in me, we might be able to get it done in that time.

Writing!

>>35522937
No, I'm pretty sure she's the one we met in the park and showed the lab to. We're still classmates with her in college.

>>35522561
>[] "Alright. It's the best we've got. I guess."

>>35522969
more like she's only appeared once and we've never seen her since so theres nothing to implant her in our memory

so which is she, >>35522937 or >>35522971 ?

>>35522937
Pastebin lists green girl as 'Green'.

There's a Shanoa in there, and seeing how the list hasn't been updated in a while, I rescind my assumption.

>>35522996
The latter. The characters should start coming into their own gradually. This isn't what "gud" looks like, but I'm giving it all I've got.

>>35523041
I think you're a pretty good QM, man, so don't judge yourself. First time participating in your quest, and I'll have you know I blew through the archives reading this.

>>35523041
you just need to run more often and have us interact with the cast more often instead of wandering off in flashbacks and side missions where we don't see them

"Alright. It's the best we've got." I said, turning to look at the door. "I guess."

"Hey."

Shanoa calls me. I turn my head to face her.

"What i- Mmf-! Mm.."

In retrospect, I should've savored it more. Shanoa's lips were the single most memorable sensation of that day. Perfectly feminine and supple, their reddish pink color attracted a lot of looks. She mingled her mouth and mine for a good several moments, very willful and deliberate. She tasted of... desperation. For all her perky and vivacious words, she obviously wasn't sure that she'd live another day. And, trying to grasp life wherever possible, gasping for air before the execution, Shanoa took another breath, another bite out of life. With me.

I won't be so bold as to say I became infatuated. Rather, I was flattered beyond belief. The girl who kept everyone at bay, kept even her friends at a safe distance, who always looked at me like at a rival - in the best of times! - now hungrily plunged herself into my mouth and pressed herself against me.

Soon, too soon she pulled away.

"Come on. We should make it sound like you're doing your job."

"Right. Yeah."

Really, why isn't there ever enough time?

"By the way, looking at this guy," Shanoa said, helping me load one of the bodies onto the table, one whose head was still attached, "you just... swing at them, and that's it? I guess they really are lucky. Those terrorists must have been doing much worse to us. I mean, how many did they send to you? About 30?"

"..."

"Hm? I didn't catch that."

"All of them. Everyone came here. To me."

"I... see."

Shanoa dropped her eyes to the floor. I felt my face flush, ashamed to be the butcher yet to be helped in escaping.

"Alright, just lie down and I'll drop it on you. Ready?"

"Yeah."

CHOP!
[1/2]

OP is deadererererered

The plan went off without a hitch. I was surprised, myself, but the guards didn't manage to let off a single shot before we killed one and shot the other. The other two people besides Shanoa were two guys, and both of them had enough muscle to be a force. So long as they worked together, that is. Two bundles of joy can really get in the way.

Having acquired two rifles, we sneaked out the door and through the hallways until we encountered our first guard. Or is it third?

"On the count of three. One, two..."

We ran through the couple of hallways and up the stairs. We couldn't agree on where to go from there, so instead of waiting for the others to catch up, I opened the window and jumped out. Shanoa followed me. We had a whopping one rifle to the two of us, while those guys had a knife besides. It didn't help them.

We heard gunfire soon after, and when I looked back, I saw the front door of the building we just left open.

We ducked behind the nearest building, but no doubt about it: we were spotted.

"Sorry, Shanoa."

"Wha-?"

I grab her by the neck and kiss her, then throw her to the ground and charge. My right foot slides out ahead of me just as I emerge from behind the building's corner and level the Avtomat. A shot at them, a shot at me...

...

Time passes.

...

"Jesus Christ, kid, that is one ugly gunshot wound. Well, you're doing a good job so far. Hang in there, alright?"

I nod at the doctor. Shanoa sits next to me, with my shot-clean-through shin, and holds onto my arm for dear life.

"Honestly, it's a hell of miracle that you made it. A firefight with 7 guys? And a 12-year-old wins? I'll be damned."

The officer looks at me like I'm some sort of hero. A living legend. Like I have become death, destroyer of worlds.

But Shanoa's seen the worst of it. The 7th was the very guy who gave me a smoke. He didn't run to me the moment he heard gunfire. He kept going. He found Shanoa. And he tried to keep her hostage.

It didn't take.
[2/3, just a bit left!]

I still remember that day. The day when I killed my first and my one-hundredth classmate. The day when I first held a gun in my hands and tobacco in my mouth. The day when I was declared a legend and a national hero.

The day when one of my classmates was declared the Butcher of Markov.

I still remember that day and its many lessons.

Since then, Shanoa and I became outcasts together, being the only 3, then 2 people of our class and even year. Until we'd graduate, we'd share that bond.

I still remember the newsreel that detailed how my other classmate proudly declared that his friend was innocent - and received the same sentence as a full accomplice. Little did he know, justice was done, though the heavens fell that day. But now they can know the truth together. Serving life.

The classmates I lost that day were duly mourned for, but it was truly odd to hear the gratitude of their friends and family through tear-choked sobs. It felt odd to give them my condolences, one by one, learning for the first time their names. People whom I fought for and avenged. It felt odd to give a speech at the graduation ceremony along with Shanoa, as the Heroes of Markov, about the importance of persevering and always being ready. About some prices that are just too high to pay. About telling the truth, rather than lying to the last.

It felt odd, but also satisfying.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this:

To a million boats, a single harbor.

These are words to live by. But how you get to that harbor, and when, is a different matter. And sheep will always die by the dozen, flocks at a time. And wolves will always hunt, so long as they will always hunger.

I turn around, as if once more led by the arms, and head back home. My tools await. But just as I begin-

"Nobody move! Get down! Down! Now!"

Gunshots ring out. Terrorists again.


I still remember that day. I still remember... how to kill. And I will never forget.

I'm no wolf. I'm a lion.

The Lion of Babylon.

[That's it for today's thread! With this, the first chapter of OOQ ends. Expect the PDF any day now! And I hope to see you on Sunday. Suggestions and questions are always welcome.]

>>35524163
Thanks for the thread, any idea when the next will be?

>Gunshots ring out. Terrorists again.
I'm assuming this is at the lab where Huxley is giving a speech/presentation/whatever

>>35524290
>any idea when the next will be?
derp I'm sleep deprived and retarded, completely missed >>35524163
>And I hope to see you on Sunday

OOQ, please let us know in advance when you'll be running DSQ on your twitter