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!
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
Maybe one day a guy will talk about me like that. ... Without the 'Master' part though.
That said she offers out the first cup of tea to him, even if she is still awkwardly sweating here.]
Ah it's... nice that you're so enthusiastic...
[Yeah, enthusiasm. That's it.]
I'm an investigator actually.
no subject
[Fortunately for Mai, his current demeanor will not last for very long especially when he notices the cup of tea being offered to him. There might be a rare curious look that was visible on his face now.]
Is this for me? Are you certain in offering me the first cup of your tea? [Did she want him to test it for poison? It'd have been his next question, but refrained from asking because it wouldn't make any sense for her to do so.
For now, he'll decide to turn his attention on the type of job she had because it sounded interesting. An investigator could be of great use in their current situation especially if she was already gathering information.] What type of investigations are you interested in? Do you plan to become a journalist?
no subject
It'd be a little rude to serve myself first, right?
[Heck, she's so used to making tea for everyone in the office that making just one cup of tea feels really strange now.
She turns back to the thermos for the second cup and says with a certain amount of pride:]
I work for a company that does paranormal investigation actually.
[There she pauses a moment, thoughtful.]
Actually... I haven't really thought about that. I guess I could eventually. I'm still in highschool right now though.
no subject
[He'll refrain from drinking the tea until he was absolutely certain that his host had enough to fill her own cup. Then again, after revealing the type of investigations she usually does, it gave him more reason to keep himself from drinking for the time being. Paranormal investigator? It definitely caught his attention as an SS agent, but he didn't feel the need to feel uneasy about it as he was currently -- as far as he knew -- the only one from his world. There was no need to feel any concern over if his current companion will do anything to him. After all, the Mikesukami clan weren't here nor do they hold the same influence in this world as they did in his. Instead of allowing his thoughts slowly turn to anything else, he will offer a light smile and continue the conversation.]
As much as high school is the best time to enjoy one's youth, it's important to consider all and any possibilities over the type of future you wish to reside in as well. [With that piece of advice said, he'll return to the subject matter she seems to feel pride of.] I do not believe I've ever encountered a paranormal investigator before. My knowledge over the career is shallow, at best, I'm afraid. What type of services does your establishment offer? Do you exorcise spirits?
no subject
If there's no tea then I'll drink whatever. I don't think I could stand having tea while someone else didn't.
[That's just how Mai is though. She blows steam off the top of her own mug. He sure seems to know how to talk, didn't he. She briefly wondered how he and Naru would get along.]
I don't usually but we all sort of take turns on exorcisms, I guess? The others all have a type of exorcism they do best. Exorcism isn't really the first conclusion we jump into, though it's definitely handy to help people feel better about the situation.
[She sips there, her mind wandering over their current case. She wondered briefly how much trouble she would be in for going missing.]
We take client requests for investigation and we do just that. It's a lot more about cameras and taking room temperatures than you might think!
no subject
If that is the case, then I'll gladly accept it. However, please do allow me to show my gratitude in return in the near future. [Giving him a rare treat without ulterior motives definitely sounds like a good enough reason to reward her for her kindness. Along with wishing to balance the amount of kindness she has given him.
As she spoke about her job, Soushi can't help wonder over the true amount of information she has over the supernatural world. He'll drink his tea while nodding his head every so often as well. It's difficult to not feel curious over the type of world or people she associates with. Were any of them Atavists like himself? Would she know if they were?]
I suppose not. It is due to the amount of times we are repeatedly informed, throughout our lives over, how exorcism is the best way to solve any issues regarding the supernatural; they could be considered as a type of placebo at times, correct? Have you ever encountered a case where participating in a exorcism did not solve the issue? [He'll be momentarily reminded of the curse a certain dog demon from the past inflicted on certain individuals to transform them into demons and many couldn't return their humanity.]