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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[that's not exactly a yes either.]
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[He eyes the water, actually leery of trying to pull anything up the cheating way right now.]
So... how does fishing fall under practical crafts?
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I hate to say this, but I'm barely any better than you are right now. Have you tried talking to the fish?
[it's definitely morbid to talk them into getting caught so she and percy can cross a bridge, but desperate times.]
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[He probably could. It was only because of two alarming identical bass warned him that he even knew old Fred was around.
It's just...]
That seems a bit unsportsmanlike.
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[that'd be taking it beyond what even she'd be willing to do to some poor, unsuspecting fish.]
Just...explain why we need the help.
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I'll give it a try. Keep an eye out for our friend?
[Asking was more of a habit than anything. He didn't move far into the water, just a few steps, putting a hand just below the surface and closing his eyes to concentrate.]
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After a bit, two fish literally leap out of the water and flop around on the riverbank. He stands up and gives both of a fish an incredulous look.]
Okkkay. So, that was weirder than I thought it was going to be.
[He scoops up both in a ball of river water, the whole blob floating easily in his hand.
Percy Jackson, MONSTER SLAYER, SAVIOR OF THE WORLD MORE THAN ONCE, BELOVED BY THE GODS... reverts to helpless city boy in the face of ... killing two fish.]
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[keeping them alive in a water blob is kind of COMPLETELY DEFEATING THE PURPOSE.]
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[He hesitates.]
So, what's the chances of keeping them for a while, instead?
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[No actually, the river ISN'T the good idea...]
I'll figure something out.
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[and now she's going to pace along the shore, looking out at the water and back at the bridge with a critical eye, murmuring under her breath now and again.]
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Maybe we could double back.
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[she keeps at the pacing and wondering thing, finally pausing to stare at the bridge guy for a good long while. then she turns back to look at percy, smile bright and eyes sparkling.]
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What.
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We're going to walk across. [and then she steps forward and pushes the cap onto his head, turning him invisible.] While he's busy talking to me, you get onto the water and walk around him. Call our friend and make a distraction. While he's busy with Fred, you get back on the bridge and we'll both make a run for it. Got it?
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[A beat. His expression is hidden by the power of the cap, but she can probably guess. His tone is light, and she can feel him brush past her on the way to the bank.]
You know, there's an alarming amount of plans that have me as bait.
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Is it my fault you're so good at it?
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He pauses, waiting for her signal... but still calls back.]
Yes. I'm pretty sure that's a yes.