PHASE I [ 9 00 ] You open your eyes, and there is a chicken pecking at your face. It's not a very happy chicken, either, but if you can manage to fend it off, then it will be clear that you are in a village. It is... medieval-esque, in that video game sort of way; the details don’t seem too clear, but if you look to your left, there’s a cow! And to your right, a well! Ignore the clear evidence of modern technology in the buildings such as lights, gas, and 21st century plumbing; CERES is dedicated to authenticity.
Looks like the new ViViD level has finally been released, and everyone is invited to play, whether they want to or not.
The game (because this time, that's surely what it is) will start simple. Everyone begins in the same place and every NPC villager will say the same thing: to get out of here, you have to go through the caves. They’ll shove a stick at you (“take this, it’s dangerous to go alone”) and off you go, into the caves… !
Which are full of tiny rats and more chickens. They will try to fight you, but it’s really not very effective when they’re perfectly small and average (especially when everyone still has their typical powers and abilities -- CERES didn't mess with those at all this time). The caves are winding and circular and maze-like, and to make matters even worse, the only ones around are the other poor saps stuck in this situation.
But if you kill enough of the rats, you’ll get to hear the satisfying level up jingle. Congratulations! You are now level 2. It's probably satisfying just for a minute or so until you finally find your way out of those maze like caves and -- You're back in the village again. Great.
PHASE II [ 930 ] You’re carrying a bag. No matter what you do, you can’t take it off, either; it’s stuck with you through thick and thin. But it is awfully heavy. Maybe you should actually open it and see what’s inside?
The problem is, it’s going to take a while.
The bag has clearly tapped into its true hammerspace nature; there are items for days in there, and they’re all very, very strange. You might end up covered in hats of all sorts, buried in logs as you pull out one after another, or look like you have an odd fetish for pickaxes.
Maybe there’s 1/3rd of an evil turnip, half a piece of pie and an egg.
Geez, what in the world are you supposed to do with all of that?
PHASE III [ 1200 ] Eventually, you make it out of the caves the right way despite the harassment of the rats and chickens and the fact you'll keep perpetually getting lost. Hooray! You come out into a large, peaceful, scenic meadow, with a small river bubbling off to one side, and a house.
You'll immediately notice that there’s a bridge to cross the river, but there’s someone standing in the way of that bridge. When you approach to go past him, no matter what you try to do, you won't be able to. Asking him why he won't move will only get one thing in response -- “Bring me a fish. Cooked.”
Then he’ll shove a fishing rod at you and expect you to get to it. You can’t attack him, you can’t get past him -- looks like the only thing to do is to catch and cook that fish. Time to sit back, relax, and get to work. Or maybe you’ll team up with someone else and be the person in the house making sure that the fish gets cooked properly. For some reason, if you leave it too long it turns right into a pile of ashes.
Weirdly though, no matter how good you are at cooking or fishing usually, it’s as if you’re right back at the metaphorical level one. Any sort of seasoning or effort to cook it faster falls flat and in the end you'll only be able to place the fish in the pan and set it on the stove, whole. This may take awhile.
And if you try to cross the river itself, well... no, really, don’t try to cross the river.
At least if you get eaten, you’ll just respawn back in the village, but do have fun traveling through the caves again!
PHASE IV [ 1430 ] You made it through the caves. You made it across the river (with a slightly burnt fish). You’ve made it to the wide open world, and you can finally adventure to your heart’s content. You take a step forward on the road and --
A message pops up, bright red and in your face.
[ Restricted Area: Members Only ]
No matter what you do, you can’t go past that point. In fact, if you’re not careful and you’re going too fast, you might run face-first into it like it’s an invisible wall (which it is).
Then, just like that, you're back in the village. Again. Only this time, there's a nice, blinking message -- Pay a small subscription fee to access member's content. Oh well. No big deal, you can just start again.
Except then you see a cool sword and when you try to pick it up, you'll get that same message, and end up transported back to the village yet again. And again, with some shiny new armor. And again, with that attention-grabbing NPC over there. Looks like you're caught in an infinite loop here but no matter how much you inspect the pop up, there's no... actual way to pay the subscription fee (and why would you want to?). But at least you have company, because you can't be the only person who thought that sword was cool.
(It was really, really cool.)
BONUS [ xxxx ] What’s that on the ground in front of you? It looks like… some bunny ears? Or maybe it’s a chicken head, or a pumpkin head. Either way, the moment you touch it, you have a strong need to put it on your head -- and once it’s on, it’s not coming off.
To make matters worse, each hat has an effect associated with it; the bunny ears will, in fact, randomly turn you into a cute fluffy bunny for anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour before you pop right back to yourself, whereas the pumpkin hat will, in a complete reversal, turn you into Cinderella for a bit -- complete with beautiful ball gown and the ability to talk to all of those cute fluffy bunnies.
Also the rats will love you, so maybe you should go back to the caves again.
Meanwhile, the chicken hat won't transform you into any odd creature, but it will inspire in the people wearing them a very real, persistent desire to build a nest. This will involve picking up twigs, trash, shiny things and whatever else catches your eye to try to build a nest out of it. You'll also try to pick up whatever food you find on the ground to eat, have the weirdest desire to lay an egg, and basically have all sorts of odd chicken-like instincts inflicted upon you.
At least you look festive!
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Kokonose Haruka | Kagerou Project | OTA
[Haruka knows he's a bit... weaker than some people, but this bag isn't just heavy because it's him, right? He can't imagine what he could possibly be hauling around that has so much weight and—oh, huh. He doesn't remember why he's even carrying this at all.
Pausing to stare at his luggage intently, he should be able to open this and find out for himself. After all, no one's said he couldn't. So without an ounce more of hesitation the brunet reaches in and digs around. And out comes...
a loaf of bread, oh my! And pre-sliced too, Haruka is impressed. Of course he has to taste this miracle bread himself, and well you know, one slices leads to another...]
Oh! These are my favorite! [And out comes some candy, then some chips, and lastly... a bowl of chicken noodle soup? He fishes around for a spoon, finds one. Well, he can't ignore this twist of fate now can he?
Aha, but someone else can. And they do, as they step right into the bowl just as Haruka is about to dig in (uhm, kind of... once he'd swallowed everything else he shoved in his mouth earlier). How did they manage this? That's what he'd like to know.]
...my soup... [He could almost cry.]
Phase III
[The caves had been a struggle. Haruka had emerged panting and winded, but he'd emerged and he's more thankful for that than anything else. Except, uhm, fishing. Now he's sitting here trying to catch a fish for what is most definitely his first time, with absolutely no guidance. He... sets the hook in the water slowly, as to not disturb the fish, then kind of... nudges it outwards with the pole. Which is kind of hard considering the hook is attached to a string that's attached to the pole.
How in the world do people catch things like this?] Uh... come out little fishies...? [He's trying.]
Phase BONUS
[It's like being in the hospital again, except the wrong kind of gown. Ruffles and lace, a material that almost seems to shimmer, it's like he's stepped out of a fairytale book. Twisting about to take in as much of his appearance as he can, Haruka practically walks in circles to get a better glimpse of the bow tied at his lower back.
Though, actually, he does and the funny thing about long dresses is that unlike pants, you can step on the hems and trip. Which is exactly what he does before he lands on the ground with an oof. Regaining his bearings, his attention is immediately drawn to his attire.] Waah, did I get it dirty?!
[Another con of dresses: how do you stand up again when there is so much dress to get through? If only he had something he'd seen on American TV once.....
Life Alert?]
[Wild Card!]
[Come at me with whatever you choose!! Save him]
phase iii!
And now someone expects him to fish! Just to cross a bridge... Seriously? He could've sworn it was a joke but the NPC just wouldn't budge, and he couldn't even threaten it or anything. How stupid!
Well, fishing shouldn't be too hard... He use to do it all the time, although when he found a pretty good spot it seems like Haruka was making his poor attempt at fishing. Oh, Haruka... ]
Seriously?
[ What are you doing, why are you trying to talk to the river and/or fish, Haruka. ]
If you keep making noise you're going to scare everything away.
Re: phase iii!
Haruka looks up cluelessly at... a very historically accurate, dedicated—what are they called? Cosplayers? He's got the samurai look down perfectly, maybe it's some in-game feature? Maybe he'll unlock it someday if he plays enough!
But fishing though.] Wha—oh! [He slaps a hand over his mouth and nods. So silence is key! In that case, Haruka gestures to the old man.
Then the river.
Then the fishing rod.
...thinks a little, makes a wavy motion with his hand (a fish perhaps?).
Then eats an imaginary meal.
Did this cosplayer get all that? Haruka's wide, awaiting eyes ask for him. He doesn't want to scare anymore fish away after all! Isn't charades fun?]
haruka.............. ._ .
Sigh! ]
Okay, okay. I get it, enough of that.
[ Hijikata just simply gets his fishing rod ready, then looks over at Haruka. ] Like this.
[ And with a smooth... Elegant motion (wow, so cool) Hijikata throws the line into the water, and it submerges with a tiny plop! ] Got it? Now we wait.
zzzzz hes tired.... tired of this sass
Oooh, so that's you fish! In a clumsy mimicry of Hijikata's movements, Haruka casts his line as well. Not very far, but... he casts it.] Ah, I did it! [Though he immediately shuts his mouth. Oops, can't scare the fish!
And so they wait. And... wait.
....
Waiting.
Still waiting? These fish sure are taking their time. The water moves by steadily, and Haruka really is trying to watch his line but...
His eyelids start to flutter. Fishing is a lot more boring than he thought.]
wtf haruk pls stop
Hijikata, for one, knows that patience is key and if he's patient enough a fish will bite and he'll be able to move on from this silly task!
Then he looks over at Haruka.
Is he... Falling asleep where he stands!? ]
Hey... Kid...
[ Wake... up? ]
there he goes.... ugh cryin
He saves it though, it's safe.] Huh? I... was I falling asleep? Sorry about that!
[Aah how clumsy, that old man had picked the wrong person to get his dinner cooked. His dinner doesn't think so though, as it tugs at Haruka's line.
Too bad Haruka isn't ready, and when his, albeit dull, reflexes cause him to latch onto the pole... This fish is pulling the line and its fisher into the water.]
Uwaah!
OH GOD NO???
[ Oh! Haruka sure is lucky. Hijikata notices the pull on his line and was about to say something to grab Haruka's attention...
Oh, shit.
Haruka!? ]
Hey- Kid! Don't let it drag you in! [ UGH! Hijikata immediately drops his fishing pole (it might even get dragged into the river if a fish decides to bite the line while this whole shebang is going on and grabs for whatever of Haruka's he can grab.
Which happens to be the back of his sweater. Aaaand he makes an attempt to pull Haruka back! Which isn't too hard, Hijikata was ready to play tug-o-war because the fish had to be super strong to pull some 6'0 kid into the water?! But... ]
Honestly. I literally just told you to pay attention!
ugh.... will he ever catch a fish?
One, he's safely on land and maybe kind of tumbled backwards into this kind stranger.
Two, he is now down one fishing rod, his only one. Oops.]
Aha... you did! I'm sorry I'll... I'll work a lot harder to stay on my toes! [He sure is fired up for someone who doesn't actually have a rod anymore to, you know, fish with.]
I'M SCREAMING. I mean. Phase III
She'd made it through the boring caves and eaten some boring food and now some boring NPC was making her do some boring fishing. It was all the side quest minigames with none of the exciting plot! The only 'dire threat' she'd run into was that a chicken might peck her eye out. How was she meant to get into this without even knowing what she was adventuring for? These guys really need to step up their game.
No pun intended.
Anyway, time to go fishing which will surely be just as mundane as the rest of the game and offer no excitement whatso--]
Ha...ru...?
[Ene can't even finish speaking, she spots the boy over by the lake and drops her fishing rod, gaping. There's no way, is there? That can't really be him, it must be another trick, it's been so long, she didn't think - but he's right there, what if it is? She goes racing towards him with a cry.]
Haruka!
SKDJN IM LATE AF but tfw when ur dead almost-bf doesnt remember he died
[The blue is new, but those twin tails! It has to be Takane! Does ViViD have some kind of customization feature that he doesn't know of? He wonders how he can unlock it, then maybe he could look like Konoha...]
I didn't know you were playing this game! Waa you look so cool! As expected of Takane, you've probably got this all figured out. [He looks at himself, his usual plain sweater
weak body.] I'm not even sure how to change my appearance...[also whispers my canon point is like some grey area between the culture festival and Haruka's collapse so he has no idea he died or of snakes oops]
WAY TO MAKE THIS AWKWARD HARUKA
Don't change your appearance!
[It's the first thing she can blurt out and she feels like an idiot for it, but after that run in with the imposter, the thought of Haruka changing at all scares her. Don't dress up like your OC, that guy isn't you!! He's just weird! She shakes her head, staring at him and welling up with tears. Oh no she's going to lose it in front of Haruka this is so uncool.]
Haruka, you... y-you're really here?
HES TRYING HIS BEST!! ugh my feelings...
The only thing that shows on his face is comical surprise.] Don't? But I'd look a lot cooler... [Maybe Takane just doesn't think it'd suit him.
But then she starts crying and all thoughts of himself and his looks are overrun by concern.] T-Takane?! What's wrong?
[He pauses at her question, and although he doesn't quite get it he reaches forward and wraps her hands in his.]
Mhm, I am. Oh, I mean, I think I'm technically a bunch of... code or something, [He'd started dozing during the powerpoint.] but I'm here. We're both here!
[And that's the most important part to him.]
His best to be a heartbreaker!! Look at all these painful feelings
All Ene can do is throw herself into Haruka's arms, sobbing and babbling helplessly.]
W-We're both - I didn't think I'd ever see you again and you're here, Haruka, Haruka!