MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer

"Michael doesn't belong to anyone! He's not an object!" A pouting girl suddenly stepped forward. She was frowning while glaring at him. 

"You're the one that trained it? I need you on board with the chicken fight club ASAP. They need to learn moves like Claw and Throw Dirt or something." 

"No fucking way! I'm never gonna stoop so low!" 

"You seem really angry. Why?" Jack raised a brow. 

"Making these poor beasts fight is inhumane!" She shouted. 

"I'd say it's very human. Just ask the players around you how many enjoy PVP. It's the same concept. Players fight for loot, and chickens fight for food, that's all." 

"Tch— Justifying your evil practices with— What are you doing?!" She cried in shock as she saw Jack approach her chicken. 

As headstrong and confident as she seemed, she was freaking out internally. This guy was the goddamn Demon King! She had seen the fire dragon, she knew he had slaughtered armies alone, and he had so many followers. 

Was he going to devour poor Michael-Clucking-Jackson?! Sure the plains were a safe zone, but the guy was a field boss at the moment! Should she beg for mercy? She felt so damn helpless. 

"Wait!" Her voice faltered as she cried out. 

"There you are, little buddy." Jack slowly reached for the chicken's neck and…..tied a D.L. emblem to it. "Now that looks better." 

The poor girl went from dread and despair to utter confusion. What was he doing? That's when the Demon King turned toward the surrounding players. 

"Now, does anyone dare to kill this chicken?" 

The surrounding players chuckled, seeing his antics. 

"Fuck no! It has the emblem!" 

"Talk about one damn lucky chicken!" 

"Can I also get one if I learn to Moonwalk?!" 

Jack suddenly approached the girl. 

"You see, there are two kinds of people in this world. The ones that whine and the ones that actively try to make a change." He had a slight smile as he said that. 

"Now, will you just keep bitching, or will you join the Fight club to make an actual difference? Wrestling is super popular, and no one is getting hurt, you know." Jack winked, walking away. 

"Woo!" (How ridiculous!) 

She just stood there shellshocked. Be the change that she wanted? That's when a man approached her, one she knew as the manager of that vile chicken fighting ring. 

"Hey there, it will be a pleasure working with you!" He gently put his hand forward to greet her. 

"I never said that I'd join!" She spat out. 

"Oh, sure. Guess I'll have to starve the chickens to make them more violent then. A shame we don't have a masterful tamer in our midst." He shrugged as he began walking away. 

"Y-you!" 

"Me?" 

"Were you reading a script just now?!" She had noticed how his eyes seemed to be glancing at mid-air as if looking at a message window. 

"W-what?! No way!" He promptly closed the message window he had opened. 

As she saw him tap in the air, she turned toward the Demon King. How scheming was the guy?! He was already doing something else and playing innocent. 

With a grunt, she finally followed the man to discuss. She would have lots of work to do to turn a barbaric show into a glorious one. In the distance, Jack was slightly grinning, +1 skilled worker! 

Bubblegum slowly approached: 

"I saw how you hoodwinked that poor girl. I lose track of you two seconds, and you're already cheating people." She shook her head in mock disappointment. 

"Hehe, now that's a straight-up lie." 

"You totally cheated her." 

"I meant the part about losing track of me. You've been watching me the whole time. How about it, want to dance?" He winked. 

"Do you have eyes behind your back or something? What are you, a fly?!" 

"How dare you?! You should at least add handsome to it!" 

"Sure." 

"Oh? So you agree that I'm handsome?" He grinned. 

"I meant the part about the dance." She gave him a teasing smile as they went to work up a sweat. 

Moon Moon happily followed behind as it copied their movement. This dance seemed slightly weird. There was much more body contact than the previous one: it couldn't do it alone. That's when its predatory gaze landed on the nearby chicken. 

"Cluck?!" (Frozen in fear!) 

"Woo!" (Let's fucking dance!) 

"Cluck!" (Running for its life!) 

"Woo!" (Confused!) 

In its mad run, the chicken lost all track of its surroundings. Its owner even called out to it, "Jackson come back!" but it didn't hear her. 

That's when tragedy struck. There were enemy chickens in this plain, and it ran straight into a level 4 chicken. The monster instantly turned toward it angrily. 

Lv 4 Chicken VS Lv 2 Jackson: the outcome was already a given. 

"Noooo! Jackson!" The owner cried in fright as she saw her chicken attacked by the stronger one. But just as she was freaking out, a mighty wolf howl resounded. 

Moon Moon was hella mad! This chicken may have rejected it, but it wore their faction emblem. It was a friend! This dumb wild chicken dared to raise its claw against one of theirs?! Not on its watch!

— Howl! — 

That's when fiery destruction began raining on the enemy. It felt the heat and raised its beak to defend against the attack. But its eyes bulged in fright as it saw what was coming its way. It was utterly fucked!

The flaming chicken crashed on the opponent, turning it into a ball of fire that was soon only ashes. Moon Moon quickly went to the ally's side, pushing it back on its feet with a gentle paw. 

"Cluck?!" (Stunned) 

"Woo?" (Concern) 

"Cluck!" (Grateful!) 

The two pets then slowly waddled back. Michael-Clucking-Jackson seemed as if its whole world had been turned upside down. 

Had a wolf saved it? Wait, no. This wasn't a wolf. This thing was orange. Was it a fox? But why did it look like a wolf? — And why did it save it?! 

The players witnessing this scene clapped in excitement. 

"As expected of our unholy beast!" 

"No one messes with D.L.!"

"Great job Moon Moon!" 

"That fire was Lit!" 

As the young trainer girl saw this, she couldn't help but gawk in incomprehension. She had taught her chicken to moonwalk, yet he had taught his wolf magic?! Did he even fucking need her?! 

No, it wasn't that he couldn't do the job. He simply didn't want to do it. He already had too much on his plate. As for what that was, the answer was obvious: his faction. There were so many players surrounding him! 

They seemed like a tight knitted family. Maybe they weren't that bad, even with some of their dubious practices: cannibalism, rampant destruction, borderline brainwashing, exploitation….never mind!

Even then, she would join this pirate ship. She would join for her ideals and to prevent the atrocities they would otherwise commit. 

This was because of the time she had spent with Michael-Clucking-Jackson. In his innocent eyes, she saw life, real life! She didn't believe one bit that her friend was only lifeless data. She needed to protect that cute creature! 

If the best way to do that was to join a mad faction, then she would turn evil for the greater good. This was her resolve! At this moment, she appeared so solemn, a solemnity that didn't fit the joyous atmosphere at all. 

But a sonorous shout suddenly brought her back to her senses. "Hey guys, I brought weed!" 

What kind of insane game was this?! Whatever, she would remain for the cute chickens....