>>46543829
And despite all that, here you are, waiting for its arrival. You came upon a miraculous chance to turn this fight into an unfair one, and you've decided to take it. Miura Kentaro, a human Fullbringer, claims that he possesses an ability that allows him to bring spiritual beings down to his level. According to him, a single shot from his 9mm pistol will turn the phenomenon known as the Menos Grande into something that even the two of you could cut. His claims are difficult to believe, but there is some semblance of evidence to back his statement - a Shinigami had been killed by that same weapon.

The plan is incredibly simple. You'll wait for the Menos to come out, and that's when Kentaro will shoot him. You and Takenaka Hanae will charge in and slash it from the leg up until you reach the head. If Kentaro's claim turns out to be wrong, you'll flee in different directions. A plan of ambushing the Menos was proposed, but Kentaro refused for the following reasons: he can't flee from the top of a rooftop as quick as he would like if the plan was to go awry, he has no means of communicating with you if you left him on the ground while you hid, and the gunshot would be enough of a giveaway to any sort of surprise in the first place.

The thin, cracked fabric of this world's reality is strained to its limit. The Menos should appear any minute now. Even so, it may not be too late to change your mind.

...

>Go on with the plan.
>Try to convince Hanae to withdraw.
>Other. (Write-in).

Archives: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Shinigami%20Quest

Current Character Sheet: http://pastebin.com/P2idrx7H

>>46543838
>Go on with the plan.

>>46543838
>Go on with the plan.
Sorry I'm late! Let's do this.

>>46544215
Also, maybe we should use hashimaru

>>46543838
Voting over, writing!

>>46543838
Shit, I overslept. Well I wasn't gonna vote to withdraw, and I'm not sure if there's time for a big fancy plan. Also is Kentaro's ability focused on his gun?

>>46544780
One minor thing would be instead of carving our way up, maybe target the Achilles tendon to make it trip? Like if Kentaro shot there, it'd have been easier to shoot the head maybe.

>>46544849
I'm not sure how much menos anatomy has in common with humans

>>46544873
I thought Kentaro made things comply with human anatomy with his gun?

>>46544215
>>46544249
>>46544780
Here it comes. This oppressive feeling isn't just anxiety, it isn't just dread. It's the unrefined spiritual might of the approaching beast that's weighing your body down before it has even arrived. Discharging some of the tension, Hanae speaks up.

"Tsukuda Ryouta-san. We must not leave anything up to chance. As soon as the shot is fired, strike with everything you have and hold back absolutely nothing. I shall do so as well." Takenaka Hanae tells you the obvious, as if she doesn't trust you to know that much on your own. Or perhaps it was simply a means to prelude her own willingness to hold nothing back - she lifts up her sword, pointing its sharp tip in the direction of the tearing sky. Hanae calls out a name, her voice firm, unrelenting, cold. "Eclipse, Tsukihime."

The steel of her blade dissolves into nothing, a spiral of light emerging from the hilt to beyond what the length of her sealed Zanpakuto once was. That light then holds itself in place, assuming a shape that bears only a passing resemblance to that of a sword. Her weapon has changed to that of pure spiritual energy. It has no need for an edge; its heat alone is sharper than any sword's. The weapon's guard has changed to a wider one, and now consists of a series of red, interlinked plates of metal.

The sun has not yet set, and yet a moon has already risen.

>SHIKAI: Tsukihime
>Command: Eclipse
>Rank: C
>Type: Anti-Unit
>Range: 1-3
>The weapon loses shape and becomes pure spiritual energy, manifesting itself as a sword of light. Every attempt to parry or block attacks made with this sword has a chance to break the opposing weapon; successful unarmed, non-reiryoku based defense results in reduced - not fully mitigated - damage. Any injuries inflicted by this weapon cause a stacking Burn effect, dealing an additional E-Rank damage every round until healed.

Here it comes.

(1/2)

>>46545281
A more civilized weapon from a more civilized age huh?

>>46545281
Gigantic, pale fingers tear through the cracked sky, grasping the colorful pink tint of the nearly-set sun as though the heavens really were made of simple fabric. It moves the skies aside as though it were a simple curtain, and the masked horror rears its ugly head.

The thin, cloaked giant emerges from the hole in space. Steam erupts from its mouth as it breathes in the fresh human air, the long, crooked nose of its mask leaning downwards onto the pitifully small humans beneath its white feet. It makes a single step, leaving the torn reality behind. Its uncanny, massive form stretches out towards the violated heavens.

The bottomless eyes underneath its pale mask direct themselves towards the only trio capable of meeting its gaze.

Menos Grande:
>STR: A
>END: A
>AGI: E
>SPI: C
>REIA: C

"It sees us!" Hanae yells. Now is the last chance. The explosive discharge of a firearm follows her shout.

...And yet the Hollow remains unharmed.

Instead, the small moon flickers and fades out. The frail body of a blond girl falls to the pavement. In his hand, Miura Kentaro holds a smoking gun. Even though all he's done was pull the trigger, he looks almost exhausted; and despite that exhaustion, he still continues to exude a smug confidence. This was no mistake; he's not acting out of panic.

(2/3)

>>46545314
Miura Kentaro's Attributes:
>STR: -
>END: -
>AGI: -
>SPI: D
>REIA: E (D)

>Fullbring: "Man Mandated Equality."
>Rank: A
>Type: Anti-Unit
>Range: 20
>This Fullbring manifests itself through a mundane firearm, though it does not seem to require a specific weapon. When aimed at a spiritual being, it brings the target's Attributes down to those of the user. Larger discrepancies in power demand larger expenditures of Reiryoku. If the shot was successful, the effect persists at no further cost for as long as the bullet remains inside the target's body. The damage that has already been inflicted does not heal even after the effect ceases.

"See ya later, Shinigami!" His taunt is cocky and bold, even as he takes wary backwards steps away from you, the gun in his hand pointed your way. He's hesitant to shoot; perhaps the ability takes too much of a toll on his body, or perhaps he needs you to stay alive for a little longer. As bait for the Menos Grande. As cover for his escape. The Fullbringer soon turns his back on you and runs into an alleyway, turning the nearest corner.

The mindless creature looming above cares nothing for your situation. A sphere flickers to a crimson colored life before its mouth, charging an attack.

Cero.

You think you could get away. You can feel it, and although it's slight, that there is some life left in Takenaka Hanae. Hanae... could serve as a suitable target for that thing's Cero in your stead. As long as there's a live target in its sight, the Menos probably does not have the mental capacity to differentiate.

You won't get away from the Menos while carrying Hanae. The Cero will be unleashed any second now. There is simply no time. Getting away at her expense would be simple enough. You're agile enough to do that. The chance of failing to do so is miniscule. But...

(3/4)

>>46545314
Well I'm annoyed. Not sure how we were supposed to see that coming at all. Like even as bait it's a retarded move

>>46545314
I do not have an image smug enough for this shit.

>>46545388
...But even if you were to choose the girl, how would you save her? This may be the morally correct choice, but how could you carry it out? There is no answer to that. No answer that would result in both of you making it out alive. Perhaps not even either. Takenaka Hanae is done for. Why should Tsukuda Ryouta pick this girl over his own life? Don't you have something to return home for?

Try as you may, you can't formulate a plan. That means there isn't one. ...Or perhaps it means that your current analytical ability isn't enough.

...

>Try to save Hanae.
>Chase after Kentaro.
>Other. (Write-in).

>>46545412
>Try to save Hanae.

>>46545391
>Not sure how we were supposed to see that coming at all.

Well you could try not trusting an obvious scumbag, for one.

:^)

>>46545412
>>Chase after Kentaro.

>>46545412
>>Try to save Hanae.

>>46545412
>Try to save Hanae.
Shield her with Haname

>>46545440
I meant more that it's a retarded plan. There's no way to escape the Menos's range before it devastates the city. It would have made a lot more sense to not show up at all.

>>46545467
Does that work against non-physical attacks? I was more thinking tap an empty vehicle or something with our magnet sword and have that block the attack.

>>46545477
Like all he did was give the Menos someone to target first, even though there's no way it's gonna leave after that. And if he had a magical way of leaving the city, he'd have done that instead.

File: 14Menos_charges_its_Cero.png (284 KB, 540x350)

284 KB PNG

Ryouta's armory updated!

http://pastebin.com/9ntre2iJ

>>46545477
>I meant more that it's a retarded plan

It was his only option to escape us. He never gave a fuck about anyone other than himself, his best option with what little option we gave him was to make it so we couldn't run and take his chances escaping while we didn't have the option of chasing him.

Now he's going to go and steal a car and drive and hope he gets far enough away fast enough that it doesn't murder him.

also

>implying anyone ever has a -good- plan in Bleach

>implying Mushroom wasn't intending for something like this from the start

Naive.

>>46545412
Wait wouldn't it make sense to charge towards and under the Menos? It's REALLY slow, and it seems like turning around takes more effort than tilting its head slightly.

>>46545566
But we had no way of finding him at all. Like the ONLY lead we had was to just stand in a public place with high spiritual pressure and hope he showed up. If he stole a car and left, we'd never find him, especially not before the Menos showed up.

>>46545582
Like I feel that if we did that, we could carry Hanae away from the first cero.

>>46545412
Maybe if we shoot the Cero with a really boosted Ishiken shot, we can get it to prematurely detonate?

>>46545618
Dude, we were standing right next to the dude. And before that we had him on the ground with his arm locked behind his back.

He's just going to walk away as we are staring at him? He -couldn't- leave undetected.

>>46545314
He shot the moon? What?

>>46545412
Voting over, writing!

>>46545696
BEFORE that you jackass. Like when we first got here, we had zero leads on the gunman at all. It would have been completely impossible for us to have found him, pretty much ever. HE came to US because of the incoming Menos. He had no motive to approach us if he wasnt sincere. Which is why this is so stupid and I can only assume it's a leadup to pulling a new power out of our ass because anons were sick if being underpowered. Honestly I feel like staying just out of frustration.

>>46545773
You need to relax a little anon

>>46545773
Well obviously his job is to kill shinigami, or he was very intent on finishing Hanae and we were his best lead.

You're assuming he really is afraid of the Menos. The fact that he knew it would show up with repeated use of bait and he didn't stop the guy from bringing it here means he doesn't actually give a shit. He knows something we don't.

He's furthering his agenda, which we do not actually know. Of course he stuck around.

>>46545825
That's retarded. I can't see any reason to target Hanae because she didn't really have any Intel that could implicate him or his boss. Also we'd have seen the Menos on its way if he hadn't shown up in the first place. Not just that, but we saw this guy's abilities and they are utter garbage, he seems like he might be at risk passing out just from being in the same general area as a Menos.

Really the only plan I can see is if somehow he works for someone who knows about us and wants to test our abilities.

>>46545817
It's a shitty twist anon. Not quite the same tier as Hogwarts Quest, but up there

>>46545936
>professionalism isn't a good reason for an obviously Japanese man

Maybe you should stop being so buttmad and use your head.

>implying he knew we could see statlines

>implying he isn't tired because it's what his fucking ability does to him

You can't even read, nigga.

Yeah, nevermind, I'm not arguing with you, you're a moron.

>>46545984
What the fuck is wrong with you? He never fired a shot in any previous incidents, and yet he was apparently dedicated enough to finish the job to place himself in a suicidal situation? And of course he doesn't know we can see his stats, but he probably is aware of them on his own.

>>46546059
Like your only defense pretty much amounts to stereotyping. And apparently you're not even trolling me.

>>46546088
>stereotyping

>he has never met working-class Japanese men

It's literally true, anon.

>>46546059
>He never fired a shot in any previous incidents
Except the part where he did.

>>46546190
But he's a criminal lowlife who's living in Hong Kong who probably isn't even Yakuza. Expecting him to have the same work ethic as a salaryman is absurd.

>>46546269
Since when have we known him his entire life?

>>46546263
I meant except for the one we caught the tail-end of. Like before that it was just hollow bait. Also killing all shinigami that enter the city is impossible and targeting a specific shinigami is pointless

>>46546293
>targeting a specific shinigami is pointless
Then your argument of him being here just to observe us is moot. Other anon was right, you are dumb.

>>46546318
We're not a real shinigami but some kind of mediocre weapon. And I wasn't suggesting that's why he's here, I'm suggesting that there's no logical reason for these things to occur at all. It's clumsy railroading to get us to whatever we're gonna do now, which could conceivably be death.

>>46546374
>We're not a real shinigami but some kind of mediocre weapon.


FUCK YOU WE ARE A REAL BOY REEEEE

>>46546394
Well yeah, though muted, we've demonstrated multiple emotions. Not sure if they count though

>>46546394
>[The Heart intensifies]

>>46546394
Not anymore. Judging by the spoilers being around us having someone to live for, I think running away was the "human" option as well.

>>46546509
>Ryouta has a penis

>and he exists

>hence "real boy"

>>46546509
Like boosting analytical mind seems like it makes us more of a sociopath, because why shouldn't it be a double-edged sword I guess.

>>46546537
Do you mean to say that there are boys that are real and boys that are not?

>>46545433
>>46545459
>>46545467
You dash in front of the blond girl's crumbled form. With your arm outstretched towards the charging Cero, you call out the name of Hikari's shield. There is no other option. There is no object in the Human World that could block a Cero. None of your weapons could hope to compete with the kind of power that thing is about to unleash. Not even her shield could. The fake versions that you usually use won't last, so you'll have to push your replica to its limit. It'll last for mere seconds before breaking, but that way it will at least defend you from some of the damage. It's better than nothing, even if it may seem close.

Your sword disappears just as the red sphere does. Haname's pleasant luminescence shimmers soothingly, as if trying to assure you of your safety. That modest glow is hopelessly overwhelmed when the Menos opens its maw wide, the Cero pouring out from its black innards like a stream of blood. At that moment, the world turns red.

>Cero
>Rank: C+
>Type: Anti-Unit
>Range: 2-50
>A beam of spiritual power. Does its damage thrice per successful hit, may be maintained over the course of several rounds. The Hollow may spend a turn charging this attack before firing it, increasing the Rank to B.

You won't make it. The instincts responsible for your preservation scream. But you've made your choice. Right now, those instincts are only getting in the way of the better - of the best - outcome you're striving towards. This is what a better Tsukuda Ryouta would do. This is what Tsukuda Ryouta would do, and he wouldn't allow himself to die. Because you have someone waiting back home.

If the only way to deafen out those instincts is to scream even louder than them, then you'll do it. You won't die here...!

>Tsukuda Ryouta's REIA: E ---> D

(1/2)

>>46546740
When the blast collides with your shield, the weight of its power reverberates throughout your entire body. The earth shakes and crumbles, your feet digging into the pavement. Haname's first layer bursts and evaporates, its attempt to push back entirely fruitless. The second layer cracks and bends inwards, unable to contain the beam.

If you could, from a purely theoretical approach, 'split' each Cero into three parts for every single unit of time, you think you've managed to stop two. So, as things currently are, the third one will connect. Perhaps you won't die from it, assuming that the Menos simply stops. The other option is to try running now. You have maybe half of a second before Haname breaks. Maybe it's possible for you to succeed at that... perhaps even while taking the girl with you.

...What else could you do? How hard would it be to make another Haname? Would it be possible? Even if it is possible, could you do it now, under these circumstances? At what expense?

...

>Take the hit and try to endure it. With a little luck, the Menos will stop its Cero and you'll survive.
>Make a dash for it. Try to take Takenaka Hanae with you.
>Make a dash for it. Leave Takenaka Hanae behind.
>Make another Haname before the first one breaks. (Analytical Mind: C ---> B)
>Other. (Write-in).

>>46546740
Hmmm... would
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMu3kMxXXVw
be appropriate?

>>46546774
>Make another Haname before the first one breaks. (Analytical Mind: C ---> B)

screw it, time to go full mind of steel route, and become a hero.

>>46546774
>at what expense
>Raises analytical mind to a higher level
So for some reason, replicating zanpakuto uses the part of our brain that handles feeling things?

>>46546774
>Make a dash for it. Try to take Takenaka Hanae with you.
I feel like as long as we make sure we're between the cero and Hanae, even if we fail, it doesn't seem worse than tanking the hit.

>>46546814
probably, in turn this screws with our ability to normally interact with our zampakuto my guess is, making it that much harder to get our actual shikai instead of this copycat shit we do.

>>46546832
I don't think we have a normal zanpakuto spirit, unfortunately.

>>46546850
i think we do, and my bet is that its absolutely stupidly fucking strong, but odds are highly likely we can't talk to it while we have gone full repressed sociopath.

>>46546832
It's fine. Our shikai will be entirely underwhelming.

Not like its a Kyoka Suigetsu or a Ryujin Jakka or anything, you know?

>>46546826
Like I don't know, functionally it seems like the Menos isn't smart enough to change its cero in the split second it would take us to run or stand our ground, so if we do get hit, it'll be the same amount we would have gotten hit with anyway?

I don't know, Analytical Mind just seems like the Bad End button right now.

>>46546874
>implying all kinds of shit thats probably wrong

>>46546774
>>Make another Haname before the first one breaks. (Analytical Mind: C ---> B)

>>46546916
Actually, if you're smart you never give players absolute power like that.

The more powerful the character gets the more convoluted shit has to be to keep things "tense".

And that usually means asspull and bad guys having that one macguffin that can beat you.

It really cheapens the narrative when you have godlike power and limits the options that the storyteller has to affect the character meaningfully without seeming like an absolute prick.

>>46546774
>Make another Haname before the first one breaks. (Analytical Mind: C ---> B)

>>46546912
On the one hand, that seems kind of dumb, like first giving Ryouta a big step forwards towards feeling things with a reiatsu boost, but then taking it away with boosting analytical mind.

On the other hand, look at what we had to go through to reach this nonsense, right now I wouldn't put it past Mushroom to do exactly that.

>>46546774
>Make a dash for it. Try to take Takenaka Hanae with you.
Don't fall for it guys. It won't be worth it.

>tfw people don't understand there is no correct option

Mushroom is fuckin with you. Watch. It may take a long time but you'll see it eventually.

>>46546919
>>46546989
>>46546810
You guys know it's a trick right?
Like
>At what expense?
And previous boosts of analytical mind all coming from Ryouta going full autistic robot? This is gonna wipe our character development clean and we probably won't recover before the quest ends. Do you guys really want to deal with that?

>>46546774
Voting over, writing!

>>46547030
Probably, I mean this latest shitty twist did go a long way towards going to that. And honestly I'm pretty sure Ryouta's gonna die ignobly sometime before Substitute Shinigami Quest if only to explain why he didn't show up there. But spill your beans dude.

>>46547073
Fuck you Mushroom. You know damn well most of the players aren't invested enough in the story to care about anything but fighting, this should have been the April Fool's thread, because at least you'd have had an out.

>>46547047
Maybe I'm wrong, maybe boosting analytical mind doesn't actually impair our character development but instead just involves being honest about what we are, and that won't negate the progress we had already made.

I doubt it though. I'm pretty sure you guys just picked a trap option that was clearly labeled as such.

>>46547140
>>46547105
>literally choosing to die
>not saving the chick our guy is clearly enamored with and mushroom has gone on multiple times to essentially point out as such
>implying this choice isn't massively in character.
>being this salty about not getting your ways

>>46547080
>467th thread

>Mushroom is tired, but his plan complete

>finally achieve shikai

>it's dickbutt

>>46547187
I don't think we were choosing to die at all. If we ran with Hanae, there's a chance that we'd outrun the cero completely. And even if we didn't, there's another chance that we'd be strong enough to survive the last third of it.

And I like the odds of either of those, more than what is clearly a trap just like every other option to boost analytical mind (except the detective novels, I guess) has been a trap.

Like you really think we're just gonna get a free stat bonus without consequence? We'll probably autmoatically leave Hanae after this because we'll lose the capacity to give a fuck about her.

Could you people just stop being twats for a while and, you know, see what happens? Wait until something actually goes wrong to bitch instead of bitching about how things are totally going to go tits-up for purely speculative reasons?

>>46547255
Agreed. Fuck, let's just see where the story goes.

>>46547255
Things have already gone wrong at the start of the thread for no good reason, it's not hard to believe that things will go wrong -again- this time for a well-established reason. That picking to boost analytical mind makes Ryouta more of a sociopath. Mushroom has a bad habit of overestimating his audience, we've seen this repeatedly in the past. There probably were more blatant examples that I missed just like you guys, for how boosting analytical mind will just bite us in the ass almost immediately because QMs don't just give free stat boosts.

>>46547375
>turn on shadowruns because of powerups happening
>in a quest
>in a shonen universe
>because clearly the QM is out only to fuck us in every way shape and form

>>46547423
Don't trust that phallic-looking motherfucker.

Mushroom is out to steal your soul.

>>46547375
>for how boosting analytical mind will just bite us in the ass almost immediately because QMs don't just give free stat boosts.

So then we aren't keeping the Reia boost we just got regardless, so what's it matter?

File: Ichigo-hollow.jpg (478 KB, 1280x800)

478 KB JPG

>>46547423
A Bleach Quest. Where the protagonist is placed in an extremely dangerous situation and has no choice but to turn to an ability that no other shinigami has, and indulging that ability involves upsetting the protagonist's friends and family. While the benefits and cost are different, a clear analogy can be made.

>>46547494
It matters that now we're gonna have to take even longer to deal with Ryouta's emotion problems and we might have just fucked ourselves into a crummy epilogue because of it.

>>46547514
Well boo-fuckin' hoo.

If the quest is ending, then what's it fucking matter?

If it takes longer to not be a boring piece of shit, what's it fucking matter?

One gives us no option to do anything, so getting upset about it makes you a fucking idiot, the other gives us the option to further explore and extend the time we have doing things so you shouldn't get upset over it.

Jesus, anon.

There is no right or wrong answer, stop shitting on other people's choices like you know what you're talking about.

>>46547494
I meant more that there's a price. Like the Reia boost came from placing ourselves in a very dangerous situation. The analytical mind boost came from anons choosing least-risky way out, and the price is to be determined later.

>>46547562
It matters because I think that we only have a pre-determined amount of time in this quest, and I wanted to spend it doing the best we could. But now I think we're gonna be giving up something we won't have time to get back, or at least it'd be difficult for us to get back, which we'd probably just screw up as well because we screw up everything.

>>46547708
>and I wanted to spend it doing the best we could

There is no right or wrong. And thinking that there is will only piss you off when things don't go the way -you think- is right.

>>46547743
I'm not really sure that's the case that every choice is as good as every other choice. Like even if there isn't a straight-up right or wrong answer, I think certain outcomes are more preferable than others.

Like if we auto-killed Hanae as a result of this, I'm pretty sure most of the audience would consider that outcome not preferable.

>>46547849
Hanae a shit

Every girl a shit except for the ones at home, and they aren't for waifuing

>>46547892
Well okay, if we no longer wanted to make our mom happy or felt protective towards our little sister, I think anons wouldn't find that outcome desirable either.

>>46548026
>this is under the assumption you are right

>thread is ruined because of one massively autistic shadowrunfag whos hell bent convinced nothing good will ever happen because hes clearly played far too much joker quest.

>>46548102
You kidding? As far as saltstorms go, this is pretty minor.

>>46548142
hes sperging pretty damn hard right now, also most actual salt storms is caused by multiple shitters shitting in unison, not one guy flipping his shit and everyone telling him he is wrong.

>>46548182
Then it shouldn't be hard to drown him out if he's just one guy.

>>46546919
>>46546989
>>46546810
You outstretch your arm. The cracked shield of light won't hold. However, even over the course of this fleeting moment, it's protected you more than anyone else could ever have hoped for in a situation like this. Minami Hikari's Shikai is truly something special. You wonder... what the spirit of this shield is like. Whether they're strict, warm, whimsical, kind, arrogant, mischievous, playful, greedy or gentle... regardless of what they may be like, they're one of a kind. For better or worse, they are an inseparable part of their user's soul.

But you're not Minami Hikari. This isn't your Shikai. Haname isn't unique for you. You've never heard her voice. You've never seen her. You've never met her. You never will.

For you, Haname is just a tool. It is created to carry out a purpose as a tool, and it retains its role for as long as you choose to maintain it. When one tool breaks, you can simply make another. You can make as many as you like, and if that's what it takes to reach your goal, then you shall.

When the Cero breaks through Haname's final layer, it advances mere millimeters before it collides with the exact same shield again. The Menos persists, its Cero pushing on. Another Haname shatters under the strain.

And then another.

And another.

Soon you can feel Haname's inner layer at the tips of your fingers. You can feel the web of cracks run along your skin.

That's when the crimson beam ceases and fades. The remains of the battered shield crumble to the ground. Countless shards litter the ground. You didn't allow yourself to cease your focus on the broken shields. That would provide you with some semblance of relief, a release of the strain, and you couldn't allow that. The change in pressure could have broken your concentration, and that wasn't a risk worth taking.

(1/2)

>>46548262
But now should be alright. The glass shards disappear with a faint glow. With that, you can finally draw a breath. Your lungs feel like they're burning. Your heart feels like it's about to explode. Your body feels like lead. Even so, this isn't over yet. The Menos still stands. Its primitive mind seems to be pondering your continued existence as a wholesome person. You can't fight against it, especially not in your current state. There's no time to be tired, and there's not even a moment to spare on recovery.

You lift up Hanae into your arms and run. Your speed is incredible. It takes seconds to get out of the Hollow's field of vision. You think you're at least twice as fast as you used to be. You were already making plans to cover your retreat, but it seems that there's no need for that.

You use your sensory abilities to establish a safe distance and conceal your own pressure to make yourself invisible to the predator. You lay down Hanae on the ground. The bullet wound is in her chest, having entered in a fashion similar to Kentaro's previous victim: at a slight angle from the side. She's still alive.

You can staunch the bleeding, but whether it would be better to try and get that bullet out using your own improvised means or wait until a qualified professional in the Seireitei can take care of her injury, you do not know.

...

>Take the bullet out with Yuchi.
>Contact HQ. Make a report on the situation.
>Check Hanae's phone. It was the First Division's reinforcements that were supposed to arrive, so perhaps she was kept up to date on the situation.
>Head back to the Seireitei immediately.
>Other. (Write-in).

>>46548262
>For you, Haname is just a tool. It is created to carry out a purpose as a tool, and it retains its role for as long as you choose to maintain it. When one tool breaks, you can simply make another. You can make as many as you like, and if that's what it takes to reach your goal, then you shall.

I don't really think this is a good thought for Ryouta to be having.

>>46548291
>Contact HQ. Make a report on the situation.
>Check Hanae's phone. It was the First Division's reinforcements that were supposed to arrive, so perhaps she was kept up to date on the situation.

>>46548291
>Head back to the Seireitei immediately.

>>46548291
Hm. I'm not really clear on how Kentaro's power works, like the
>The damage that has already been inflicted does not heal even after the effect ceases.
Does that just mean that the wound won't magically close after we remove the bullet? Or does it mean that it has to be treated as a normal gunshot wound, including the bullet maybe stopping her from bleeding out right now, even though that's what's causing the effect to persist?

>>46548291
>Check Hanae's phone. It was the First Division's reinforcements that were supposed to arrive, so perhaps she was kept up to date on the situation.

Character Sheet updated!

http://pastebin.com/0tfJxvVa

>>46548291
Does the Seireitei even have surgeons?

>>46548291
>Take the bullet out with Yuchi.
Guys the bullet is what keeps her vulnerable

>>46548411
>This is an uncommon skill, as this level of high-speed and accurate analysis requires a very specific mindset. From this Rank on, the skill surpasses all plausible human ability. The user's mental faculties resemble that of a computer in their efficiency.
>resemble that of a computer
Goddamnit I knew it. I told you guys and what did you do?

>>46548413
Yeah but it also might keep her from running out of blood. Like I'm not sure if healing magic would work on a wound like that.

>>46548438
Got you BTFO, apparently.

>>46548301
i kind of agree with you actually, we need to find a way to change this mindset just a bit.

>>46548438
Like there's no going back from this. Now we're permanently stuck on "how do you calculate love".

>>46548462
That's a shitty mindset. Are you really just gonna turn to spite instead of thinking of how to fix it?
>>46548466
Too late, apparently. You can't stop being a computer.

>>46548507
>hurr you can't act like a normal person because you think well

>>46548515
We might be able to pretend to be a normal person, but it'll just be that, pretending. And don't act like the dichotomy hasn't already been clearly established by now. Because it has. Multiple times.

>>46548546
>he clearly has emotions and feelings and simply represses the shit out of them
>nope hes a computor fuck you eat a god damn dick

>>46548291
>Take the bullet out with Yuchi.
Maybe get something else to plug the wound?

I don't know, seeing as we presumably fully understood Kentaro's power, I wish Mushroom would elaborate on >>46548352
Like that's still really vague to me.

>>46548507
>Are you really just gonna turn to spite instead of thinking of how to fix it?

Actually yes. Because you manage to bitch even more than I do (and I bitch a fucking lot) I have decided to take action entirely to piss you off.

So fuck you.

>>46548591
What part of leveling up Analytical Mind causes us to lose touch with our feelings do you not get? Like leveling it up to C caused us to distance ourselves from friends and loved ones, and leveling it up to B deleted those feelings outright. You can argue that it's illogical to separate the two like that, but that is clearly what's been happening.

>>46548621
>nd leveling it up to B deleted those feelings outright.

>he says with absolutely no evidence aside from his assumption that everything is bad because he was outvoted

>he says when we have not yet interacted with anyone that would illicit an emotional response

>he says as his ass continues to ravage itself because of his own self-imposed stupidity

>>46548352
>>46548594
The wound remains, as does the damage already sustained, but Hanae should turn back into a regular Shinigami with all that entails. Being a Shinigami entails heightened resistance to death, by the way!

>>46548291
>Contact HQ. Make a report on the situation.
Urahara is a smart guy, maybe he'd know the best course of action.

>>46548642
Then we should get that bullet out of her ASAP and hope shinigami death resistance lets her survive long enough for healing.

>tfw you're aiming to get S rank Analytical mind to see how deep the rabbit hole goes

Oh, you say it only goes to A?

Too bad, push it to the limit, then break those limits!

>>46548641
When someone says someone's thought process is like a computer, that means incapable of feeling. Our best/only bet at this point is learning a way to shut off or seal Analytical Mind at will.

>>46548291
>>Take the bullet out with Yuchi.

>>46548672

I don't know why all these anons see freaking the fuck out.

Why can't we be able to think like a computer (very fast and capable of storing shitloads of info) and still have emotions?

>>46548301
It is however completely accurate. It's not like the thought process is that "Haname is disposable", it's that "our knockoffs aren't the real Haname, so they're disposable". That's a HUGE distinction, and if you carry it forward to other topics the level of insight isn't actually a bad thing for someone who is basically a sociopath to begin with.

If Ryouta can't feel things, at least he might be able to understand them in others.

>>46548687
Like if you honestly think this won't at minimum make Ryouta having feelings much MUCH more difficult, you're just being contrary.

>>46548291
Voting over, writing!

>>46548717
But we -could- feel things. We were just bad at it. Like other anons are thinking that that hasn't changed at all. While I'm pretty sure we just traded the ability to feel for bigger combat bonuses.

>>46548724
>>46548687
>samefagging this hard

>>46548687
>http://www.dictionary.com/browse/like?s=t

Boy, I sure am glad we have a brain that functions literally the exact same way as a computer. Because that's what it says it does.

>>46548724
>make Ryouta having feelings
... that's not how sociopathy works, anon. You don't go from not having "normal" feelings and empathy to suddenly having them.

And if it's not a psychological condition, and instead it's something that has a ghost-pseudoscience-bullshit cause, then our choice here is literally irrelevant. Because ghost-pseudoscience-bullshit would basically be the only answer anyway in that case.

>>46548716
Because humans, alive and dead, mainly think with all the glands in their head that release different endorphins and other chemicals. But a computer thinks in terms of layered binary. We didn't think like a computer before, and now we do.

>>46548747
I wasn't pretending to be separate people, I was adding a new thought to my post.

>>46548777
Fine, "make Ryouta aware of the feelings he already has" since that's a more accurate summary of what we had going on before but lost now.

>>46548750
>literally the exact same way as a computer
>mental faculties resemble that of a computer in their efficiency
Again, something of a difference between what's being bitched about and what's actually been shown.

>>46548817
Are your mental faculties broken or something? Does the concept of thinking things through before you spout asinine assumptions that are based in fantasy not exist to you?
Do you actually know how to read and interpret situations?

File: Salt_intensifies.gif (114 KB, 300x255)

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Bit more salt in here than I'm used to, hope we get a shovel to clear it out.

>>46548862
Anon above is currently drowning, he needs to produce enough salt in the water that he can float on the surface because his dumb ass never learned how to swim.

We just made an emotional and illogical decision to save Hanae guys we're clearly not just a robot

>>46548940
And we might have heroically sacrificed the part of our brain that handled feeling things.

>>46548794
See
>>46548823

>>46548957

The description is that it resembles a computer IN ITS EFFICIENCY. Not that we're permanently without emotion.

>>46548996
But it also said it requires a very specific mindset.

>>46549021
And I have a very particular set of skills.

>>46549021
Look, maybe we didn't permanently lock ourselves out of getting in touch with our emotions, but do you honestly believe we didn't make it harder for ourselves at all?

>>46549058
I just don't think you should be bitching nonstop about it. I don't know anything for sure about what will happen to us.

>>46549058
With a greater ability to analyze whatever we're looking at, we may have made it easier to understand emotions in the long run. Quit it with the chicken little horseshit and we'll see what happens.

>>46549081
What else is there to talk about, or do you want to just leave the thread empty for the next thirty minutes?

>>46549141
Yes.

That is entirely normal.

>>46549123
That's not really desirable. Learning to understand and fake emotions without actually feeling them is not a good direction to go in. Not just because I'm not sure we can really roleplay that, but also because it would impede real emotional growth.

Like MAYBE he'll be able to look back on his previous behavior and finally recognize the areas where he clearly demonstrated an emotional response, and operate based on that precedent, but I don't think that's the direction Mushroom wants to take this quest in. I think there's mostly a divide between being a better fighter and being a better human, with the reiatsu boost being kind of a gray area.

>>46549141
Honestly? Yes. I would prefer thirty minutes sitting quietly waiting for an update than nonstop bitching about how things may or may not have unfolded in a way that upsets you.

Why didn't our shield reflect his cero back at him?

>>46549238
Either it does that for physical attacks or the shield needs to be able to survive the assault first.

>>46549238
It wasn't shiny enough.

After calming down a bit, I guess that even if we passed up on analytical mind this time, we would have gotten more chances for it in the next fight above our weight class, and it's pretty much impossible that we wouldn't have taken the bait until the end of the quest. Still think you guys should be at least a little concerned though.

>>46549983
>Still think you guys should be at least a little concerned though.

Nah.

>>46549983
>we should be a little bitch

Navy Seals, m8, top o' the class to ya.

>>46548692
>>46548594
>>46548314
You mutter a name and your Zanpakuto transforms into Moeka's silvery-gray rapier. You don't need to touch the bullet to affect it; you manipulate the sword's own magnetic properties in order to pull it out. The previously unconscious girl squirms and groans, her blue eyes opening slightly. You discard the bullet that attached itself to the weapon and begin to staunch the bleeding. She weakly mutters your name just before her eyes close again.

When you're finished treating Hanae, you send a brief report of the situation. Your mission is accomplished, so they're telling you to return. Even if that Fullbringer was somehow linked to the Hogyoku, the chances of finding him again are slim. And now that everyone has been made aware of his activities, he should have a difficult time moving around.

Before you leave for Seireitei, you decide to check Hanae's Denreishinki. She's received several report requests over the course of the last few hours, but they're all unread. There was a warning about the Menos' appearance as well. Did Hanae not notice? Did she have a reason to ignore these? You can't get any answers out of her now. You should head back.

...

After passing the blond girl off to the medics, you head to Urahara Kisuke's office to make your report.

He doesn't seem too pleased. "It bothers me. It really, really bothers me, Ryouta-kun. Despite understanding exactly what you were going up against, you've decided to fight a Menos Grande head on. It's incredible that you've survived, but don't pat yourself on the back for taking such a needless risk. That situation could have been avoided in its entirety, and I'd rather you have done that. Once you had realized that the Hogyoku wasn't involved, you should have simply withdrawn."

(1/2)

>>46550218
Welp, time for a scolding. I guess. I mean I know my reasoning was that he might help us locate the Hougyoku as a snitch, but his inexplicable escape kind of ruined that. Also I guess we didn't want to let Hanae die?

>>46550218
There was no way to be certain at the time. Urahara Kisuke shakes his head.

"No, no, Ryouta-kun. Believe me when I say this - if it's the Hogyoku that you've found, you'll know for sure." This doesn't seem like the appropriate time for a joke, so perhaps he's being serious in his own, roundabout way. "Truly, I can't fault you for going the extra mile to make sure that it really is irrelevant. And yet, a Menos Grande... That Hollow had nothing to do with it, no matter how I look at this situation."

He looks over a document on his desk, pausing for a little while. He soon speaks up again. "If you wish to know, after we detected a high probability of a Menos appearing in the Human World, the First Division had to cancel their arrangements for reinforcements in order to let the special forces take over. They arrived at the area shortly after you left. The First was apparently having trouble communicating with the surviving member of the deployed team, so their response was delayed. They didn't keep us up to date, either way."

"I hadn't been notified of the Menos' approach." You point out.

"You're not telling me you stumbled upon it by accident, are you? At the point when the risk of its arrival became a certainty, it should have been plainly visible and easy to sense, Ryouta-kun. Since you remained in the area despite all of that, I assumed you came upon something important. I'm not sure if you've ever noticed, but I don't tend to bug you during your deployments. That's because I have faith in you, your abilities, and your judgment." Urahara Kisuke rests his chin on his clasped hands. "I'm surprised that this is a problem at all, but you may actually be more heroic than is convenient for me, Ryouta-kun. Please cut that out."

...

>"Understood."
>"People could have been killed."
>Other. (Write-in).

>>46550326
>"Understood."
It was foolish. I wonder why I did it?

>>46550326
>"People could have been killed."

>>46550326
"On one level, I had hoped that Kentaro could work as an informant on helping us locate the hougyoku in the future, as he seemed resourceful and connected in ways it would be difficult for a shinigami. Mostly though...I really did think it would work."

>>46550326
>"Understood."
Now please tell me the information you've been withholding

>>46550326
>Other. (Write-in).
"Heroism had nothing to do with it, sir. The Menos appeared to be a problem that would have to be solved before I could further investigate how a human could use what seemed to be a common firearm to kill several shinigami."

"Holding it off solo was not part of the plan."

>>46550545
He's saying that we knew that Kentaro didn't have anything to do with the Hougyoku directly and thus we should have ditched him.

We already knew that Fullbringers exist I'm pretty sure, and his abilities fall within that umbrella.

My argument is that even if he didn't know anything about the Hougyoku now, he might have in the future, but I'm not sure if anyone else is feeling that.

>>46550326
>"People could have been killed."

>>46550326
Voting over, writing!

>>46550697
Shit I was about to say that "Hanae -would- have been killed"

>>46550697
It seems like there's a tie with a couple of vague write-in options. Though ultimately we're gonna eventually agree with Urahara, it's just a matter of if he lectures us more first.

>>46550607
And from my memory of the last thread we repeatedly called bullshit on his explanations. At very least getting the full account of things from Hanae and Kentaro could give us and by extension the Seireitei a better understanding of what Fullbringers can do, how many there are, whether they're organized, how they come into being, etc.

And getting them both out alive pretty much meant dealing with the Menos somehow, not to mention that leaving the sole survivor to die would have cast the SRDI in exactly the sort of negative light I'd gathered Urahara wanted to avoid.

>>46550761
It was more of a choice between "I was being a hero" and "it wasn't about being a hero", really!

>>46550819
Huh, I didn't think that was what the vote was about. Now is it trying to make an excuse, or is it how Ryouta feels?

>>46550607
>>46550777
Basically, Hanae was a material witness to the murder of several shinigami by an assailant from YET ANOTHER rare group of spiritually-powered humans. She dies, that's bad for us as an investigator.

And on a meta level, I firmly call bullshit that running into spiritually powerful humans of all the rare flavors is pure chance.

>>46550819
Still with a vote like that, I think Ryouta probably shouldn't have a clear answer.

>>46550819
>>46550915
So wait, did trying to justify ourselves to our boss mean that we just lost any altruism we might have had in the earlier threads?
I got thown off with >>46550440
making me think saying "understood" meant that Ryouta would no longer make any efforts to be heroic in the future, but instead it was retoactively determining if Ryouta was altruistic in the first place?

>>46550440
>>46550475
>>46550533
"I thought that it could lead to more leads. The Fullbringer appeared to be of interest, so I was hoping to get on his good side in order to have an easier time gaining information."

Urahara stays quiet for a while, staring, as if carefully considering your answer. "...I see." He slowly mutters. His eyes then widen and he shrugs in what's probably a pretense of sheepishness. "So I was off the mark? And I was about to lay down quite the speech, too. How embarrassing. Well, let's leave it at that then, Ryouta-kun. I hope you've learned how to measure risk and reward better now, so things like that won't happen again."

You nod. The blond man continues.

"Now, then... There was something we were meaning to discuss. About you, Tsukuda Ryouta. Let's settle it tomorrow. This is going to take a while, and you look like you could use some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow. Oh, we won't be meeting at this office. There's a place I'll need to show you..."

...

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>>46551138
Ending thread for tonight, it's getting really late for me!

Next thread should be tomorrow, but keep an eye out on twitter:
https://twitter.com/Mushroomgami

If you have any feedback or questions, shoot them my way! I'll be sticking around for a little while longer to answer them!

Thanks for reading!

>>46551138
I mean I guess all that does is what we said to Urahara, but I feel like that's not why the players voted to stay at all.

>>46551180
I feel like the last post shouldn't have been as clear-cut as that, but I do understand that you're really tired. Just hope that it doesn't really determine what Ryouta would say to anyone else.

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>>46551134
I don't know how much you should be worrying about Ryouta's perspective, considering the sort of perspective he has. You should have Ryouta say and do whatever you want him to say or do at any given moment, and he will do it if that action has the majority of votes. I'm not sure if I'm succeeding at all at getting my point across here, but that's basically what it comes down to!

>>46551296
Are you saying that Ryouta isn't really the kind of quest MC to which in-character or out-of-character really exist? Because I feel like I'd have to disagree with that.

>>46551180
Why give us two stat bonuses in a row, and not bundle them together? Like did you believe that we'd ignore the chance to upgrade what seems like the only special thing about Ryouta?

>>46551180
Seeing as it's really unlikely we'll see him again, why didn't Kentaro just flee the city on his own?

>>46551296
What's your preference in terms of player activity. Like is just voting and then silence the best way of doing things?

I guess the way I saw it is someone doesn't get mad unless they're invested in the material.

>>46551296
>>46551277
Like I don't know to me, "I understand" means "I acknowledge I was being a hero, and promise not to do it in the future" "people might have been killed" means "I acknowledge I was being a hero, but here's why" while the write-ins were "it only seemed like I was being a hero when in reality I was doing this".
All three options had only two votes, so it shouldn't have worked out like it did.

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>>46551397
That's not what I'm saying! However, if you vote for something, Ryouta will do it, so you should vote for the things you believe are the right ones and not worry about Ryouta's perspective! I think that's what I'm trying to say.

>>46551429
I'm not exactly sure what you mean! It was an option like any other. It was important, so it was put up as a choice instead of being automatic.

>>46551468
He had something he needed to do before he could leave!

>>46551515
Of course discussion is great! But I'd also like it if people were happy instead of angry, but unfortunately I don't know how much I can do about that! I'll keep trying my best and hope it'll work out!
>I guess the way I saw it is someone doesn't get mad unless they're invested in the material.
I see it that way too! It makes me feel kind of tingly inside when I think of it that way.

>>46551658
Except I'm pretty sure everyone but me didn't really see it as an actual choice at all, but instead between "get a cool power-up" or "die".

>>46551658
But for the most part, I want to do options that develop Ryouta as a character, like seeing as we already know we won't find the Hougyoku, I guess I see having him experience happiness as the main reason to keep playing. But I'm worried we made that impossible.

>>46551918
It's not too late for anything yet! There's still a lot of stuff to cover.

>>46551515
>>46551658
I know it's not really relevant, but I've never agreed with that way of looking at player-generated drama and nonsense. It always feels like the guilty party is placing their "being right" before other players' enjoyment of the game.

Being silent and storming about what you think is the current disaster in progress aren't the only two options.

>>46551697
I guess I'm unhappy because sometimes it seems like the other players don't really wanna look ahead and just assume everything will work out on its own, but I feel like even if that's true, it's unfair to the QM to just act on that assumption. And especially since ostensibly the MC is supposed to be an investigator, I feel like it's my fault that things go badly because either I didn't see it coming, or I wasn't able to persuade anyone otherwise. Which still ties into the fear that I had in the last quest that I'm too dumb to really play well.

>>46552170
Looking at earlier threads, it tends to be those two though. Like definitely during a vote there's barely any talking at all over what the options mean.

>>46552021
>yet