The desert. It's hot. It's sandy. It's filled with creepy monsters and things. But mostly it's hot and sandy and there's a whole lot of nothing. You appear and wonder "why am I here? What is there to do here? Is that a cow skull? Do cows live out here in this desert? How can cows live in the desert? Maybe it's a horse?" These are all very complicated questions with equally complicated answers but there's no one to provide them no matter where you look. Instead, you're given the option of walking. Forwards, backwards, to your right, to your left, any direction is yours to take. Try not to die from dehydration or something, that would be a sad ViViD death and the cow-horse skull might start laughing at you. I mean, you'll just start over from the beginning anyway but still.
Welcome to ViViD's new line of Vacation Spotlights: Desert Edition.
Moo-Neigh.
 One wish, that's all you get.
Make it snappy, I don't have all day.
Actually, I have eternity but I just don't want to spend it with you.
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PHASE I [ 6 00 ] So.
There's sand.
In fact, there's so much sand that there's probably already sand in your shoes and your shorts and all sorts of other places that aren't fun to have sand in. It stretches for miles and miles, in large dunes and deep dips, and above it all there are three suns that beat down upon everyone's backs. Why three? Because why not, that's why. Enjoy the sunshine and try not to get sunburnt.
You've got a long ways to travel before you find anything but sand, but thankfully you're not alone -- there are a bunch of unfortunate stragglers who are out with you, so it's time to make some friends as you travel. You've got pleeeeenty of time. No water though. Or food. Or... anything but human interaction.
Thankfully, it's only a matter of time before you stumble across your hot new ride. Thankfully, it seats two, so you and your new friend can enjoy a cramped road trip. You, this relative stranger, and the great... sandy... unknown! Good luck!
PHASE II [ 645 ] If you prefer to not take your ride, you're going to wish that you did soon enough. Every desert level has to have desert monsters, after all. You're walking through the sand, trying to make it to somewhere that isn't sand, and then suddenly, the sand worms appear.
Or.
Well.
They try.
Unfortunately, they're little more than 5 or 6 inches tall apiece, and they'll mostly try to eat your shoes and socks. How scary.
Alternatively, if you have actually taken that sweet ride of yours on an adventure through the desert, you're going to hit something at one point. It makes a rather pitiful scream and there's a small bump underneath your tire before your car comes to a stop. You just ran over a sand worm.
Anyone who is intrepid enough to kill a sand worm though will find one interesting thing about them. They're filled with water, and you are very, very thirsty. Ew.
PHASE III [ 1000 ] It sure is hot.
And unless you've devoured one of those poor, sad, screaming sand worms, there's no water to be found. It feels as though you've been wandering in circles for ages, so perhaps it's really no surprise that the heat starts to get to you. First come the headaches, and the thirst. Then the dizziness and vertigo.
And finally, the mirages.
What you see is a waterfall cascading into a crystal pool, beautiful and pristine and painfully cool. It's just begging for you to come enjoy it, and -- wait, there's one more thing. Standing in front of that pool is either someone you care about immensely or someone you hate immensely.
And either way, the things they say or do will be the same. First they reach for you, beckoning, and they they start to detail all of the things they'd like to do to you. NSFW, SFW, loving or cruel or so many things in between, all that's honestly consistent is that it's pretty shocking.
Oh, and awkwardly, it seems as though anyone with you can see and hear that hallucination too. That's embarrassing.
PHASE IV [ 1215 ] Eventually, though, you'll find your destination. Or... at least, it seems like it should be the destination. The tiny temple is at least a change from the endless sand, and in the middle of it, there's a lamp. That sure looks familiar.
If you rub the lamp, of course, you'll release the genie, and he'll glance at you, and inspect his fingernails as though you're hardly worth his time, and offer you one, single wish.
As soon as you make it, well... You'll get the opposite of what you wish for with a sudden apology note in your hand. The card will read "Sorry, this level isn't entirely finished yet - Mosley" before immediately disappearing. Your wish will only apply in ViViD, of course, but hopefully you didn't wish for anything too crazy, or you might have made the level Much Harder for everyone around you.
BONUS [ why o'clock ] One second you're walking along the desert sand, enjoying the eternally same view, and the next there's a sudden pinch on your ankle, and a scorpion monster scuttles away quickly. Whoops, looks like you've been stung.
But it's not poison, it would seem. Aside from feeling a little odd and having a mild fever, you're fine.
More importantly, you've now found yourself in possession of some... new powers (a la Spider-man), and they're...
Well, they're useless.
Maybe you can summon water now, but... only sulfur water. Perhaps you can now make pretty light shows and that's about all. You can see the future but only the next three seconds. The possibilities are endless, but what's for certain is that they're all completely and utterly useless to you.
What the fuck, ViViD.
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no subject
He brushes off whatever sand he can from his jeans and skin (man, this stuff really will be a pain to get rid of), before shooting her a curious look.]
You can't tell me this is your first time in a ViViD session. There's no way--
[And then, a thought occurs to him, something that Rei (and probably some others too) have mentioned when he first arrived.]
... wait a second here. Are you a newbie? Is this place actually dragging more people into stupid place to torture? Goddammit!
[Keep your cool here, Yusuke. It wasn't long ago that he was in her position, just as equally confused. Better do his best to fill her in, to save her some headaches early on.]
Look, you're in the middle of some crazy virtual reality game right now. I got about as much clue as you do at the moment on how to beat the stupid thing, but I can tell you this much-- you're not in Kansas anymore, Dorthy. Hope you don't have any urgent business back home, 'cuz you're probably not gonna see it for a while.
no subject
Also, you're going to be the same color as Kuwabara's hair. Good luck with that.]
Huh, what's ViViD? And what do you mean torture? What's going on here?
[Her green eyes narrow, all thoughts of how his glistening chest is distracting in the face of the situation she's in.]
This is a game. A game. Okay. So, why a desert level? Those are usually the worst ones? Is there some oasis we're supposed to find?
no subject
(Also, any shade of Oompa Loompa he becomes here will be negated once he gets out of ViViD so BRING IT ON, SUNBURN.)]
ViViD's just what you said-- a stupid, crappy virtual reality game, made by a even crappier and shady corporation who's keeping us here. I'm guessing you haven't sat through the powerpoint yet, but when you do-- it's lies. A whole bunch of lies.
Anyway, your guess is good as mine as why they went with a desert level, but my theory is that they really friggin' hate us. At least it's not a dating sim like the last one, though. [And there's a barely repressed shudder.] Waaaaaaaay too many things wanting to shove their tongue down my throat, and not in the fun way.
[He perks up a bit at her mention of an oasis, however, and a hand goes on his chin. Video games weren't his strength, so he hadn't considered that idea.]
But... huh. I actually didn't think of that? Last one involved a lot of punching stuff to get through it, but this one's been pretty tame, all the sand and being baking alive aside. You got any idea which way to go, then?