>>4191618
>>”It isn’t my fault that you’re as slow as you are.” Stare back at her.
ASSERT DOMINANCE

>>4191618
>”It isn’t my fault that you’re as slow as you are.” Stare back at her.
Establish dominance

>>4191618
>”It isn’t my fault that you’re as slow as you are.” Stare back at her.
god fucking dammit this sister better not be 0phelia

>>4191618
>>”It isn’t my fault that you’re as slow as you are.” Stare back at her.
>>4191625
>>4191627
My niggas

>>4191628
>ruining the thread's plot twist
Cirno BTFO

>>4191628
did 0phelia have unusual arms?
>>4191618
>Turn around and walk into the building with a shrug.
classic orange

>>4191625
>>4191627
>>4191628
>>4191629
Stare to assert dominance. Writing now!

>>4191652

Rather than ducking into the building and obscuring yourself within the crowd, you lift up your eyes from the ground and stare right back at Drifter, not willing to give her even an inch. Her frown deepens as the stare down continues, and you notice that you’re attracting the eyes of quite a few surrounding people, but you don’t give a shit.

“It isn’t my fault that you’re as slow as you are,” you turn your eyes to the smaller girl who’s still trying to recover herself, “Did those arms of yours weigh you down on the way?”

Drifter’s mouth tightens, but the younger girl laughs loudly between breaths, apparently finding your comment to be hilarious.

She moves off of Drifter and brushes black hair tinged with white dye out of her eyes, grinning up at you with a bright expression. Other than the obvious thing off about her, her outfit is pretty normal – she’s wearing a black undershirt, a red and black flannel shirt that has the sleeves ripped off, and simple jeans. You’d think someone would dress more appropriately to the season, but you can see why she wouldn’t need to.

Rather than continuing to skirt around the obvious, the thing you’re referring to is the fact that her arms are metal.

They seem to be incredibly sleek and well-maintained, the prosthetics leaning towards being silver colored rather than dull metal. They are fully fused to her shoulders, as you can spot the scar tissue peeking out from her clothes – not many people have prosthetics of that caliber, even with how far time has passed. When she sees you looking at them, she raises her hand up in a peace sign.

They’re connected to her nervous system entirely. You have no doubt that Drifter must have paid for them.

“Rather than talking shit, you should do what we agreed upon – you keep track of her while I’m off at my own tournament. I wouldn’t have given you a ride otherwise.” She casually remarks, adjusting her long black coat as she moves to step away. As she does, you can tell that her posture is stiff, and that her hands are clenched even as she lowers them down to her sides.

Heh, she must be taking the news harsher than expected.

Everyone heard about your old teammate’s return, after all.

>”Yeah, yeah. Are you gonna be mad when I beat her, too?” You beckon the smaller girl over.
>”Haven’t you moved on, yet?” You snipe at her, not willing to make this easy for her.
>”I’m pretty sure she can take care of herself.” Those arms look like they could knock out a grown man.

>>4191690
>>”Yeah, yeah. Are you gonna be mad when I beat her, too?” You beckon the smaller girl over.

>>4191690
>”Yeah, yeah. Are you gonna be mad when I beat her, too?” You beckon the smaller girl over.

>>4191690
>”Yeah, yeah. Are you gonna be mad when I beat her, too?” You beckon the smaller girl over.

>>4191690
>>”Yeah, yeah. Are you gonna be mad when I beat her, too?” You beckon the smaller girl over.

>>4191696
>>4191697
>>4191704
>>4191710
Writing now!

>>4191690
obviously 0phelia lost her arms since the last time we saw her

>>4191718

You chuckle at how frosty your old teammate is acting – she always was a bit stoic and testy, but the news of Wolfgang’s sudden return has rattled her in a major way, it would seem. You don’t feel like pressing her any further, because she’d be pretty damn likely to punch you in the jaw were you to call her out on it.

Talking about the past is practically a forbidden subject for her. You recall her firmly not speaking to Fletcher for quite a while after things went down, and you and her only remain acquaintances at best nowadays.

Whatever, the past is the past.

“Yeah, yeah. Are you gonna get even madder if I beat her, too?” You point at the girl and beckon her forwards, causing her to pull Drifter into a quick half-hug and to come over energetically.

“If she gets beaten, then that’s fine. There’s 100 people playing, so it’s more likely that she will anyways.” She shrugs her shoulders and turns around, beginning to take up a quick pace as she heads back to the parking lot. “See you in a week, Nancy. Love you.”

“Love you too, Violet! Can’t wait to prove you wrong!” The girl next to you chirps, raising her arm in a vibrant wave. All too quickly, Drifter disappears behind the various rows of cars, and your first physical meeting with your old friend in five years ends.

The air returns to stagnation, and you look over at the girl known as Nancy Crawford.

You’re aware that she’s three years younger than you and Drifter, placing her at the age of 20. The circumstances leading to this rendezvous were due to not having a car, messaging Drifter for a ride, and her accepting under the condition that you make sure her sister doesn’t keel over. From what you know, her immune system isn’t all that great, and those arms on her are due to an accident that occurred sometime in the last five years.

Pretty unfortunate life. Not your problem, though.

“So, looks like we’re gonna be competitors! Nice to meet’cha!” Nancy’s face lights up as she looks over to you, eagerly sticking a hand out in your direction. You look down at it briefly, considering whether or not to shake it – sure, being polite is a thing, but you also don’t intend to ever see her again after this. The only reason you even came out this far is due to an emergency, and you’re not very concerned with such things as social graces or competitive spirit.

All you want is to win the prize pool and go back home. Nothing more, nothing less.

>Shake her hand, you know, like a polite person.
>Refuse the handshake, you know, like an asshole.
>Make a fist and bump it against her outstretched hand, and then walk inside.
>Write-in.

>>4191753
>>Make a fist and bump it against her outstretched hand, and then walk inside.
We asserted dominance on one, now let's do it to the second.

>>4191753
>Shake her hand, you know, like a polite person.

>>4191753
>back clap their hand
Shaking hands? Mate what is this girl? an infidel?

>>4191753
>Make a fist and bump it against her outstretched hand, and then walk inside.
Don't want to give her the wrong idea

>>4191760
>>4191793
Asserting dominance is how it goes. Writing now!

>>4191797

(Sorry for the short wait, I got a call from family. Happy Easter! Hope all of you are having a good day, whether you celebrate it or not!)

Rather than indulging in this girl’s eager handshake, you close your hand into a fist and knock it against her metal hand, smirking as you do. You note that the surface is cool as expected, and you wonder if she can even feel with those things – you’re aware that there’s technology that lets them detect warm or cold temperatures, but not if there’s anything beyond that.

Maybe you’ll ask her at some point in the future, since you’ve apparently been classified as her watchful guardian for the time being. That time isn’t now, though, so you promptly turn around and begin walking towards the entrance of the stadium.

You hear her physically taken aback by your response to the handshake, and it takes a moment before you can hear the hurried clacking of her shoes as she begins to follow you. More than enough people are only just arriving, so you find it easy to slip inside the building without issue, paying no heed to the girl that’s at your heels as you do – seems like half an hour early is still too early for some people!

It’s not like you wanted to come later yourself or anything.

The small entrance area is miles warmer than the air outside, and the spread out has formed into three lines leading to a long counter manned by three people. There is one door leading into the much larger interior, all visible through panes of thick glass, and another that leads off into an unknown room.

A very large screen that nearly takes up an entire wall is visible, currently white and displaying a list of various sponsors. While this event is quite a big deal in the industry, you don’t really find yourself nervous – all you’ll have to do is win it, just like any other match. You qualified for this fucking thing for a reason! So did the girl behind you, and 98 other people. You’re not playing with randos, you’re playing with folks that have experience!

Admittedly, that’s a bit of the thrill for you. The chance of winning is wonderful, but the fact that you’re going to have to work for it is even better – more people will invite you to their tournaments, and therefore you’ll be able to net yourself a comfy sum at the end of the day.

You’re broken out of your lofty future goals by cold hands pressing into your back, guiding you into the first of the three lines before you can react to it.

“Gotta be quick, Orion! I don’t wanna be searching for seats once we get in there!”

She hums to herself, and you look over your shoulder at the girl who’s eagerly bouncing in place, almost like a puppy.

>”So, how close are you to Violet?” Might as well ask about her sister, and how she’s been.
>”How long have you been playing this game?” Make small talk as you wait for the line to go.
>”What’s up with your arms?” Be an insensitive dude, since it seemed like she didn’t take offense earlier.
>Write-in.

>>4191976
>>”So, how close are you to Violet?” Might as well ask about her sister, and how she’s been.

>>4191976
>"What do you use anyway? Close-quarters?" might as well know her playstyle.

>>4191985
oh nice +1

>>4191976
>>"What do you use anyway? Close-quarters?" might as well know her playstyle.

>>4191985
>>4191992
>>4191997
Back from taking a shower! Inquire about her play style - maybe you'll learn something! Writing now.

>>4192078

You pause for a moment, and then figure that it’d be good to try to at least make some kind of conversation. Since you’re gathering at the biggest event in history for this game, you might as well try to learn about your fellow competitor somewhat. Many big names have been announced for this event, and you’re just about the least prominent out of everyone here.

Thankfully, that’s by choice. You don’t stream, you don’t use social media, you only play.

“So, might as well ask – what weapons do you prefer? You look like a close-quarters kind of girl.” You ask Nancy, to which she visibly brightens once more.

“I usually try and use magic, if I get lucky enough to get it at startup! What about you?” She shouts, not caring if anyone hears her or not.

That wasn’t what you expected to hear.

The game you are playing today is not Warscape, as you haven’t touched that game since Genesys disbanded. As fun as you had playing with the team and despite the money you made doing it, you figured there wasn’t any point to it after they broke up. Your full potential was with them, and despite your money-oriented approach, it just doesn’t feel the same without the group that you jive that well with.

Today, the game on the menu is titled Infinite Skies by Chrysanthemum Studios, the most cliché title in the world for a surprisingly fun game.

It is the most popular battle royal game in the world at the current moment, having stretched far beyond others in the genre. Rather than the military themed ones of old, this combines aspects of medieval and RPG gameplay to create a surprisingly robust experience. There are NPCs in the world that act just like humans, a completely randomly generated continent in each match, and a leveling system that ensures nobody is better than anyone else.

Reviews call it the most story-oriented game on the market, despite it being multiplayer. Due to the sheer length of rounds (usually averaging around four hours) and processing that it needs, the game has been banned from public arcades, and only available to be sold on home consoles. This is the game that you have been playing for the past five years, and the game that you are good enough in to be invited to this premier event for the best of the best.

All you know about this event is that it’s exclusive to certain people like yourself, and that it’s going to be taking place over the course of an entire week.

“Hey! Did you hear me, buddy?” Nancy breaks you from your exposition stupor, and you realize that you hadn’t responded to her original question.

What type of playstyle do you prefer?

>”Whatever I’m feeling depending on the match, I guess.”
>”Melee – there are no values behind it, so I don’t need to worry about resource management.”
>”Ranged – being able to insta-kill on a headshot from the shadows is always a good feeling, despite needing to purchase ammo.”
>”Magic as well – it packs way too big of a punch to ignore, and it can change the battle despite mana costs.”

>>4192114
>"Ranged, but..." - being able to use your skills from Warscape has been fun, save for the ammo cost.
>"... Magic is what I usually go with these days."

>>4192114
>Melee – there are no values behind it, so I don’t need to worry about resource management.”

>>4192114
>”Magic as well – it packs way too big of a punch to ignore, and it can change the battle despite mana costs.”

>>4192137
Seconding

Gotta go to town really quickly, be back soon! Vote's open until I get back.

>>4192137
i second this

>>4192137
Magic gun, let's go

>>4192137
This

>>4192137
>>4192173
>>4192216
>>4192238
>>4192253
Back from town, and a mixture of ranged and magic it is - some skills don't disappear! Writing now.

>>4192284

This question does provoke some thought on your end, and you raise a hand to your chin as you contemplate the answer. Nancy looks like she’s delighted to hear anything you might have to say, so if you’re gonna answer, you might as well give a proper one.

Ranged is something you still prefer highly, although you don’t tend to use it very often in competitive play. Your skills in Warscape haven’t left you entirely, and you find it immensely satisfying to be able to snipe from the shadows. It’s a nice contrast to playing the front-liner like you used to on Genesys, and it allows you to keep honing your ability to shoot things while potentially reminiscing on days long past.

However, despite these pros, you tend to focus on magic nowadays. If you keep your mana in check, it allows a litany of benefits that let you control the battlefield while also keeping yourself protected. At higher levels, it packs even more of a punch, and the only thing that stops it from being too powerful is a finite mana cost. Sure, you can wield mighty powers that are an absolute game changer, but abusing them is hard to do with that in place.

Mana potions do exist in some of the world’s shops and in dungeons, but they are very few and far between. If you’re going for that strategy today, you’ll have to be on the lookout for such opportunities throughout the world, it could mean the difference between scoring a kill and being killed yourself.

“I do like ranged, but…nowadays I use magic.” You say to the girl, to which she physically steps back with a look of surprise.

“Wow! I woulda thought you’d play melee, with how scary you look!”

…well, she definitely wears her emotions on her sleeve.

You bring a hand up to brush against the three rings in your ear, and shrug your shoulders. You can’t exactly blame her, even back then you had a particular anti-social vibe, although that boils down to your dislike of people rather than any malintent. You don’t think they’re gonna hurt you or anything, it’s just that dealing with them is tiring.

>”C’mon, I don’t look that scary. Your sister looks scarier than me.”
>”Well, one could say you look the same. Those arms are freaky.”
>”Hey, it just means I’m not gonna be messed with."
>Write-in.

>>4192316
>"Well with those arms I took you for a melee, so I guess we're both wrong."
>"I never asked though, what's your gamer tag? Mines ___"
New name time

I vote >0N10N

>>4192316
>>”Well, one could say you look the same. Those arms are freaky.”

>>4192316
>”C’mon, I don’t look that scary. Your sister looks scarier than me.”

>>4192316
>”C’mon, I don’t look that scary. Your sister looks scarier than me.”

>>4192354
>>4192379
Looks like this goes through! Writing now.

>>4192380

“I don’t think I look all that scary. Hell, your sister looks scarier than me, especially when she’s mad.” You say to Nancy, causing her to let out a loud peal of laughter, catching the attention of everyone in the immediate vicinity. Even as you move up through the line, she shows no care towards everyone else, still laughing the entire while.

You feel like your ears about to implode, but you grit your teeth and bear it. There’s no point in causing a scene when the last thing you want to do is be anywhere near a scene.

“Hey, that’s a pretty good observation! She’s real scary when you get her upset, and trust me, she’s been upset for like…a week now! D’you know what’s up? You seem like you know her, even if I ain’t heard of you before.”

The comment that comes to your lips isn’t necessarily something you should have said, but you really have poor impulse control when the fruit is hanging that low.

“Guy troubles. You know how it is, probably – what are you, like, twenty?” You put on a veneer of stupidity to pretend that you didn’t know that already, but you recall Drifter saying something about her sister back when she lived with the team.

“Man, you’re good at that – I am indeed! And I don’t think that’s true, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her with a guy before.”

“The Warscape team she used to be on was literally filled with men other than her.”

“I don’t really pay attention to that stuff, I think it’s a lame game. Storytelling and fantasy is all that matters!” She grins at you and pumps her fist as if she’s made some form of grand point.

“You sound like one of those RP streamers.”

“That’s what I am!”

You almost do a double take, before reacquainting yourself with what that means in terms of IS. Due to the nature of the game and the sheer depth that every NPC has, some people take it upon themselves to also stream in character, acting as if they’re going on a grand adventure through the simulated land. It’s quite a popular pastime, and profitable as well. The only reason you haven’t considered that avenue is because you’re pretty piss poor at filling dead air, due to not having a lot to say.

“So, did you get to this event off of doing that, then?”

“You betcha! It’s fun playing a character on stream, it makes things a lot more interesting than they actually are. Although, I don’t think I’ll be doing it this time around, since the prize pool is so big. I think anyone would start to take things seriously – hey, what are you gonna spend the money on if you win?”

She bounces back and forth so quickly that it might just give you tonal whiplash.

>Be honest – you’re having money troubles, and you’re not afraid to admit it.
>Go along with what she said – anybody would want $500,000.
>Tell her that it isn’t any of her business.
>Write-in.

>>4192405
>Go along with what she said – anybody would want $500,000.

>>4192405
>>Tell her that it isn’t any of her business.

>>4192405
>Go along with what she said – anybody would want $500,000.

>>4192405
>>Go along with what she said – anybody would want $500,000.
500,000 IS 500,000.

>>4192405
>>Go along with what she said – anybody would want $500,000.

>>4192408
>>4192418
>>4192426
>>4192439
Money is money, after all. Writing now!

>>4192470

You almost sigh to yourself – you’ve never met someone who’s so intent on finding stuff out without even a shred of subtlety. Just because you know her sister doesn’t mean you’re gonna open up every aspect of your soul to her, geez.

“Well, you said it yourself – that prize pool is really big. $500,000 isn’t anything to laugh at, especially when it’s all going to one person. I could do a lot of things with that money.” You shrug your shoulders as you finally reach the counter, digging into your pocket as the short-haired man behind the stand opens his mouth.

“Good morning, sir. I hope you are well today. Are you here as a player, spectator, or press?” His voice is airy and professional, a small smile coming to his face as he looks to you.

Too bad you’re the exact opposite of both of those things.

“Player.” You say bluntly, finally seizing the object you were looking for. It’s a smooth, almost velvety golden keycard that has the game’s insignia across the front. It’s a crossed sword and a bow with a gem in the middle, another reminder that there is only three categories of weapons in this game. You hand it over to him, and he takes it deftly, swiping it into a console with no visible response to your cold demeanor.

Good, it’s a lot worse when they’re thrown off by how you are. It’s not like you’re putting on airs, you just prefer to not waste your time.

“Orion Jasper, username orangentle. Welcome to the match, I wish you the best of luck. Please enter the door to the right, and you will be taken to the waiting room for contestants. There are snacks, beverages, and strategies guides should you need a refresher.” The man hands it back with a serene smile, and you immediately pocket it again, not wanting to take the chance of it being stolen. From what little you know, that card is what lets you get around the arena, as well as have access to benefits once the game is over.

This is basically an all-paid vacation, at the end of the day – venues around the stadium take these as effectively limitless credit cards, as long as you don’t go hog wild with them. Restaurants will allow you to eat with them, the hotel built next to the stadium has these as a room key, and if you lose it, they aren’t making another copy for you. Therefore, this thing is pretty fucking vital.

You go to step away, but Nancy draws your attention.

“Hey, hey, save me a seat? I don’t wanna have to walk around everywhere to find one!”

Geez, she’s needy, but that’s fair enough. Looking for seating is always a hard thing at these events, especially when there’s that many people in one room.

>”In that case, I’ll just wait for you.” You’re supposed to watch her, so might as well wait for her to be done.
>Nod to her, and walk through the door – you’ll make sure that you find two seats, just to eliminate any hassle.
>Shrug your shoulders with a smirk and go through the door – if she wants a seat, she should be quick about it.
>Write-in.

>>4192501
kiss her a la french

>>4192501
>>Nod to her, and walk through the door – you’ll make sure that you find two seats, just to eliminate any hassle.

>>4192501
>Nod to her, and walk through the door – you’ll make sure that you find two seats, just to eliminate any hassle.

>>4192501
>Nod to her, and walk through the door – you’ll make sure that you find two seats, just to eliminate any hassle.

>>4192524
>>4192527
>>4192533
A simple nod is all you need. Writing now!

>>4192565

You send a nod her way and turn on your heel, throwing up your hood and making your way towards the other door. You identify that there’s a card reader directly next to it, no doubt to prevent people from rushing in or attempting to masquerade as someone they aren’t, so you run your own through the slot. A few moments pass, and then the red light switches to green with a loud ping.

You take a moment to breathe in and steel yourself, and then you open the door, stepping inside and immediately closing it behind you.

The sounds of music and people chatting immediately hit your ears, and you can’t help but cringe. There are very dim lights that go all the way down a set of stairs in front of you, enough to light up the stairwell but nothing else of substance. It’s almost eerie in a way, but you shrug your shoulders and make your way down, keeping your eyes to the ground and your hands in your pockets.

To be honest, you do have a fair bit of anxiety about this at the moment. Not due to doubts about your own skill, but due to the fact that you will be out of house and home if you don’t win this.

You live in a pretty nice apartment, with a pretty nice landlord. He means well, and you’ve struck an agreement with him that says you’ll have to pay rent yearly rather than monthly. This is because, frankly, you like having money to spend, and you recognize how many things can go wrong in the span of a month due to your lifestyle. Other than the money you set aside for internet, everything you have on you goes to whatever happens to tickle your fancy.

You like spending money, and you like having nice things. This is a major problem, especially when you’re as broke as you are right now. So, without a doubt, you’ve been working as hard as you can towards this tournament in order to beat it in order to secure your space for another year, as well as supporting yourself without actually having to go to work. It's absolutely an issue.

You reach the end of the stairs, and turn into the room to see what’s before you.

The room is incredibly wide, and it’s filled with a lot of people. There are black leather couches with arm rests and cup holders spread neatly around the room, many of them occupied by players. There are tables lining the walls, as well as many TVs hung up that are displaying either footage of the pre-stream or other matches. Towards the back, there’s another long counter with two suited women behind them, apparently serving the snacks and beverages you had been told about.

You also spot a few liquor bottles back there. They really aren’t skimping on costs, huh?

>Find a place to sit and hold it – you told Nancy you would, and you aren’t a liar when it isn’t to your advantage.
>Scope out the competition – see who you may or may not recognize.
>Look for some material that will refresh you on this game – basics are necessary, believe it or not.
>Go to the counter and get something to eat or drink. (Specify what you want.)
>Write-in.

>>4192611
>Look for some material that will refresh you on this game – basics are necessary, believe it or not.
We got Nancy in the door, let her take care of the seats.

>>4192611
>>Find a place to sit and hold it – you told Nancy you would, and you aren’t a liar when it isn’t to your advantage.

>>4192611
>>Go to the counter and get something to eat or drink. (Breakfast Bucket).

>>4192611
>Find a place to sit and hold it – you told Nancy you would, and you aren’t a liar when it isn’t to your advantage.

>>4192611
>Find a place to sit and hold it – you told Nancy you would, and you aren’t a liar when it isn’t to your advantage.

Ahem. Bring back Alexis. Hail Chrysanthemum Studios.
Good to have you back, cirno
>>4192611
>Look for some material that will refresh you on this game – basics are necessary, believe it or not.
Disregard bionic woman, get money.

>>4192611
>Find a place to sit and hold it – you told Nancy you would, and you aren’t a liar when it isn’t to your advantage.
C'mon guys

>>4192611
>Find a place to sit and hold it – you told Nancy you would, and you aren’t a liar when it isn’t to your advantage.

>>4192611
>Find a place to sit and hold it – you told Nancy you would, and you aren’t a liar when it isn’t to your advantage.

Good morning, everyone! How are you doing today?

>>4192670
>>4192780
>>4192816
>>4193204
>>4193272
>>4193423
Staying true to your word is a pretty rad thing to do, probably. Writing now!

>>4193480

As much as you’d like to go to that counter and requisition some form of food or game refresher, you did tell Nancy you’d save a seat for her before anything else. You’re a fan of shirking duties when it suits you, but you have a strong feeling that if you get her mad, she might just become more of an annoyance than she is now.

With that in mind, you walk out of the stairwell and into the room properly, attracting the eyes of a few players. There are a few greetings, some half-hearted waves, and even a particularly loud “Hello!”, but you ignore all of them and focus on securing a seat on one of the leather couches.

You’re not gonna sit at a table when you have nice fucking couches, that’s lunacy.

As you move through the room, you pick up a few pieces of conversation here and there. Some people are speculating about what the match will be, and others are talking about preferred win conditions. There is curiosity on your end as well – as stated earlier, most rounds of IS take around four hours to complete, so why the fuck would you need to be here for the entire week?

Due to the event being hailed as “historic” for the game, you can’t help but feel there’s something up their sleeve. As far as you know, people invited to the stadium are entirely in the dark as well. The only thing you were notified about was the prize pool, and the fact that it’s a weeklong event. While it’s almost unnerving in a way, you can’t help but feel a bit of excitement – you’re down for trying new things, especially when it pays to do so.

Thankfully, you find an available spot and immediately take it, raising your feet up and claiming the spot next to it as well.

You eye the door and see that Nancy hasn’t come through yet. You can’t imagine that she’ll take very long, but you wonder if she’s giving the guy up there some form of hassle. You chuckle at the thought, drawing the attention of a person who’s sat a few spaces away from you.

“You probably shouldn’t be laughing.” The broad-shouldered man says, his posture as stiff as a board. “Some of the others might go for you first if you laugh.”

“I can see no conceivable way that people would target me specifically because I chuckled.” You immediately respond, turning scornful eyes towards the man.

“Can’t you feel the tension in the air? I’m pretty sure they’d go for anyone that attracts attention. It’s weird. They’ve been staring daggers at that guy for a while.” He points towards the man who had shouted the greeting at you, who has gone back to having an energetic conversation with two girls.

“That’s because he’s fucking loud. No one likes loud people when they’re trying to concentrate.”

“It’s just weird to me.” He repeats.

>Ask this man who he is, and how he got into this event. Maybe you’ve heard of him.
>Ask this man what he finds so weird about it. You’re a bit confused as to what he means.
>Stay silent and wait for Nancy. You don’t wish to engage with this man.
>Write-in.

>>4193510
>Ask this man what he finds so weird about it. You’re a bit confused as to what he means.

>>4193510
>Ask this man what he finds so weird about it. You’re a bit confused as to what he means.

>>4193513
>>4193522
Talk to the strange man - writing now!

>>4193544

“Well, in that case, I’d like to ask you something. What do you find so weird about it? If you’re talking about the general vibe, it’s because it’s $500,000 on the line. A lot of people would kill for money like that – and I mean that literally, not figuratively.” You clarify with a smirk, causing sweat to form on the man’s brow.

Looking him over in the brief moment of silence, you see that he’s a pretty plain looking dude. He has a healthy tan, and his brown hair is quite long, although it’s parted at the front. Despite his shoulders, he looks to be fairly skinny, so much so that his hoodie with the IS logo is practically falling off of his frame.

“I get that, but I thought there’d be more of a lighthearted feeling in the air, you know? We all like the game in some capacity, so I figured there’d be a lot more avenues to conversation, rather than people splitting off into groups and trying to keep secretive,” he shrugs his shoulders and rubs the back of his head, “So, it’s just weird to me. It isn’t what I expected at all.”

“Well, of course you’re going to have that. No one wants to give up any information, I’d assume – you can tell a lot about a player by how they act. I’d be willing to bet one of my fingers that the loud one uses melee, and I’m willing to bet the same that you prefer ranged.”

The boy almost jerks forward and looks at you with wide eyes, apparently shocked that you had been able to nail it right off the bat. The way he’s constantly shifting, his almost withdrawn attitude, and the way he keeps looking around pegs him as a ranged player in your eyes, and you hit it right on the money.

There is a reason why Fletcher had you study other teams back in the day. You’re not a good sniper, but you’re a damn good people watcher.

“I…didn’t even think about that.”

“You don’t get out a lot, do you?” You raise an eyebrow at the boy, to which he chuckles himself.

“I don’t think you need ultra powerful observation to see that. My name’s Clay, what’s yours?”

“Orion.”

“Are you some sort of god at this game or something? You don’t look nervous at all, especially compared to everyone else.”

>”I’m no stranger to competitive games, so this is nothing for me.”
>”I’m going to win, so why should I be nervous?”
>”I think that’s because you’re the most nervous person in the room – it makes everyone else look calmer in comparison.”
>Write-in.

>>4193570
>>”I think that’s because you’re the most nervous person in the room – it makes everyone else look calmer in comparison.”

>>4193570
>”I think that’s because you’re the most nervous person in the room – it makes everyone else look calmer in comparison.”

>>4193570
>”I think that’s because you’re the most nervous person in the room – it makes everyone else look calmer in comparison.”
So what we're a little sherlock then?

>>4193570
>”I think that’s because you’re the most nervous person in the room – it makes everyone else look calmer in comparison.”

>>4193570
>>”I’m no stranger to competitive games, so this is nothing for me.”

>>4193576
>>4193587
>>4193598
>>4193613
It's true. Writing now!

>>4193615

“I think it’s less about me being a god at the game, and more about you being the most nervous one in the room. Of course everyone else is gonna look calm when you’re too busy worrying about every single thing – just sit back and relax, and shit will be fine. You’re not gonna get anywhere by overanalyzing every single person, so just…be yourself, I guess? You’re more likely to make mistakes when you’re stressing too hard about shit that doesn’t even matter.”

You shrug your shoulders, going back to watching the door. You’re not very big on life advice or anything like that, but it seems like that should be common knowledge for anyone in the competitive scene. You remember trying to tell Wolfgang something similar back in the day, but he looked pretty scared of you, so you just let it lie.

…come to think of it, maybe Nancy had a point when she called you scary. It’s not like you try to put anyone off, it’s just your face.

“…I-I see. Thank you, I’ll try to calm down a little.”

“Don’t calm down too much, though,” You jab at him with your foot, causing him to jump a bit, “because if you do, you’ll get too lax. Find some sort of medium, that’s the way to go.”

You’re not quite certain if you should be giving this boy advice, as it might cost you later. For all you know, he could be the best player in the room, and allowing that insecurity to fester would mean a win for you.

Nah, you’re not that cruel of a person.

Money is your main goal, but you’d rather not undercut others in the process – you may be blunt, but you’re not that much of an asshole. You don’t need to rely on personal insecurities to win this tournament with flying colors, you’ll do so based on your own merits as a player.

If people want to be assholes to you, though, you’ll absolutely cut them down. Fuck those guys.

A moment of silence passes between the two of you, and then you see an increasingly familiar head of black hair come around the corner. She looks around for you, and when she sees you, she visibly brightens and hurries over. More greetings are sent her way, and she responds to every single one on the way over.

You can already tell that she’s a bag of sunshine, and you’ll be willing to bet that that’s what will get her killed in this match.

“Hey, Orion, you actually saved a seat!”

>”Took you long enough.” Keep your legs up with a smirk.
>Move your legs and beckon for her to sit down.
>Move your legs and pull Clay over, just to be petty.
>Move your legs and get up, going to the bar for either snacks or beverages. (Write-in your preferences.)
>Write-in.

>>4193624
>>”Took you long enough.” Keep your legs up with a smirk.

>>4193624
>Move your legs and get up, going to the bar for either snacks or beverages.
Ask Clay if he needs anything to soothe his nerves.
>(Write-in your preferences.)
Contrary to what one would think when looking at our name, we much prefer apple juice to anything orange related. Ask if they have the good shit, non-alcoholic.

>>4193634
>Contrary to what one would think when looking at our name, we much prefer apple juice to anything orange related. Ask if they have the good shit, non-alcoholic.
+1

>>4193634
Seconding

>>4193634
Seconding

Howdy! Had some lunch, and that shit was good. Hope you all are doing well today!

>>4193634
>>4193666
>>4193688
>>4193705
You want some fuckin' apple juice. Writing now!

>>4193806

As soon as she gets near enough where it’s unlikely for someone to fling themselves at the spot, you move your legs and stand up, looking over at your new acquaintance Clay as you do.

“Do you want something from the bar to calm your nerves? Looks like they have booze, if you’re into that. Even if you aren’t, I’m sure they have snacks and whatnot.” Clay looks like he wasn’t expecting you to ask, and Nancy looks between the two of you in confusion as she takes her seat.

“Uh, something non-alcoholic, please.”

“Apple juice, maybe?”

“Sure, that works.”

“Hey, hey, get me some too!”

Nice, that saves you the trouble of having to remember three different orders. Despite what your screenname and initials would suggest, you really aren’t too fond of orange juice or orange related products whatsoever. You recall an incident where Buster got you a can of Fanta as a joke, and you proceeded to chuck it as hard as you could at the wall next to him, soaking his clothes and the carpet with the stuff.

You had to clean it up, too. It was worth it for the moment of panic.

Arriving at the counter, you pull out your card and hold it out to one of the women, who takes it deftly.

“Got any apple juice?”

“Alcoholic or otherwise?” She asks, tucking her brown hair behind an ear as she runs your card through a slot.

“Otherwise, of course. Only insane people sully apple juice with alcohol. Gimme three of them.” That gets a chuckle out of her, but you are dead serious.

Apple juice must remain as is. There are few things on this Earth purer than such an eloquent, easy to make drink. You are aware at this very moment that somewhere, where a boy holds breakfast buckets at such high esteem, you hold apple juice on the same level.

But that’s neither here or there. You take your card and the glasses with a word of thanks, and you go to move back towards your small congregation of acquaintances.

“Thank you very much,” Clay says with a sincere smile, whereas Nancy practically rips it out of your hand and knocks it back.

“Thaaaaanks!”

You sigh and sit down, taking a small sip of the liquid. It’s nice and chilled, and it’s possibly the freshest apple juice you’ve ever had.

Perfection.

“Didn’t expect that you’d make a friend, Orion! Does this mean you guys are gonna team up?”

“Don’t talk to me like you know me. And it wouldn’t make sense to team up, since only one of us is going to win – and like hell I’m gonna split that prize money with anyone.”

“So, does that mean you’re against teams, since it means you might get pressured into splitting rewards? Seems limited, honestly. Teaming with folks is half the fun!”

>”Is that because you’re an RP streamer? You’re not gonna win with that attitude.”
>”What about you, Clay? Do you prefer to play teams?”
>Roll your eyes and sip your apple juice, you don’t want to give up any info.
>Go and find some basics to refresh yourself before you go into this.
>Write-in.

>>4193850
>”Is that because you’re an RP streamer? You’re not gonna win with that attitude.”
Hunder men enter, one man leaves. Them's the rules.

>>4193850
>>Roll your eyes and sip your apple juice, you don’t want to give up any info.

>>4193882
Seconding this, and
>Go and find some basics to refresh yourself before you go into this.

>>4193850
>>Roll your eyes and sip your apple juice, you don’t want to give up any info.

>>4193882
>>4193889
Roll your eyes...

>>4193887
and since this works too, go and find a refresher. Writing now!

>>4193897

You’re not certain if the exuberance she has is a front or not, but you don’t want to risk giving up any information about your preferences. She already knows what you like to play first and foremost, and if she’s here, she must be a decent enough player. You’d highly doubt that she’s perceptive enough to glean anything out of your body language, but you don’t want to take any chances.

People like Clay are nervous. People like you are cautious. This money could quite literally be life or death for you, so you’re going to play the rest of your cards as close to your chest as humanly possible.

With that in mind, you put on a veneer of casualness and roll your eyes, sipping at your apple juice as you do. Man, that shit is refreshing.

“Man, teaming up with people is part of what makes the adventure so exhilarating! Why do you think they have those automatically timed raids on big cities? For people to team up to take them down! Don’t those usually give equal XP to everyone who protects the city?”

“I wouldn’t know, I’m not near them when they happen.” You say bluntly, standing up once more and casting an eye around the room. You can’t see any pamphlets or touchpads that would hold any information, leading you to believe that said information is back near the apparent bartenders.

Well, you’ll get your apple juice topped while you’re over there. You turn to leave.

“Awwwww, aren’t you supposed to be watching me?” Nancy croons, attracting the attention of quite a few people. Clay is looking back and forth between the two of you with a confused look, and all you can do is throw up your hood again and walk back over to the bar.

“Seems like your girlfriend is getting lonely, sir. Don’t you know it’s not nice to leave a lady by herself?” The bartender snickers, apparently unable to resist a joke at your expense. You let it roll off your shoulder and hand her your glass again.

“Not my girlfriend, and she’s not by herself. There’s a lot of people in here already,” You reply coolly, looking her in the eyes, “Mind giving me whatever strategy guide I was told about by the doorman?”

“Man, you don’t gotta scowl.” She fishes behind the counter, and pulls out a single leaflet of paper. “I wouldn’t call this a strategy guide, it’s just a piece of paper reminding people of basic functions of the game.”

“Good enough for me.” You swipe it out of her hands and grab your now filled glass, turning around and leaning against the counter.

“You know, you’re not gonna make many friends if you walk around with that look on your face.”

“I’m not looking for friends. I’m looking for money.”

What section do you read first?

>An overall description of what the game is.
>The description of the weapon and leveling systems.
>The description of the three win conditions.

>>4193929
>>The description of the three win conditions.

>>4193929
>The description of the three win conditions.

>>4193929
>The description of the three win conditions.

>>4193929
>>The description of the three win conditions.
This is most important. #solo goals

>>4193932
>>4193938
>>4193940
>>4193942
Writing now!

>>4193953

Despite this game being as beautiful and complex as it is, the win conditions are actually quite simple – they are called Heroic victories, Domination victories, and Ruler victories.

A Heroic Victory is achieved by reaching the maximum level in-game, which is 20. At that point, you are to return to the capital of the country and arrange a meeting with the king, and then you are given a key that leads to a different plane of existence. There are a variety of different bosses that could await on the other side that threaten to destroy the world, and in order to win via this method, you must be the first to kill one of them. This type of victory encourages exploration and killing strong monsters, as that’s the fastest way to gain XP.

A Domination Victory is achieved by being the last person alive in this battle royal. Rather than the pomp and procedure that the Heroic Victory presents, this one is quite sudden in comparison – all you have to do is hunt around for other players and slaughter them. While killing a player also gives quite a bit of XP, due to the limitless resource of monsters, monster hunting is what is preferred for a Heroic Victory. Due to the relative ease and excitement of this method, this is the most popular one chosen by many players.

A Ruler Victory is achieved by gaining the favor of various towns around the world. This method relies on accepting quests and protecting towns from monsters or players, and once you’ve acquired a certain amount of town favor – it varies depending on the world – you will acquire the means to become the king, as you will have become more beloved than the prior ruler. To prevent this type of victory, many people straight up kill NPCs or otherwise, and the sheer amount of requirement often puts many people off of that route, despite the advantages that having a town’s favor can bring.

You haven’t won via the last method, however you’ve done the first two several times. The Ruler victory is something that RP streamers often strive for, from what you know, but you can’t deny the benefits of each type of victory.

One lets you map the land and acquire XP quickly, the other takes out people who could eventually grow to kill you, and the third grants you access to resources that are otherwise hard to get if you don’t have a town’s favor.

Which would you say interests you the most? It’s always good to go into a game knowing what you’ll strive to achieve.

>The Heroic Victory – defeating monsters will give you the power to not only win, but to defend yourself while you march to victory.
>The Domination Victory – fighting other players will ensure you have an early edge against everyone, allowing you to hunt them down.
>The Ruler Victory – this will give you advantages over other players that they may not seek themselves, which could be vital in winning this entire thing.

>>4193988
A quick addendum before anyone votes since I realize I didn't elaborate, the following advantages that can be granted via a Ruler Victory is as follows: having people who will fight for you, having free access to shops, just generally being well-liked enough to practically have free reign and support in winning the match. Stuff like that!

Going to leave this open for a while. Thanks for reading!

>>4193988
>The Domination Victory – fighting other players will ensure you have an early edge against everyone, allowing you to hunt them down.
Orion was once a competitive player so this way probably makes the most sense

>>4193999
Yeah I agree, would seem a bit weird for his character to choose a slower victory path.

>>4193988
>The Domination Victory – fighting other players will ensure you have an early edge against everyone, allowing you to hunt them down.

>>4193988
Domination victory all the way

>>4193988
>The Ruler Victory – this will give you advantages over other players that they may not seek themselves, which could be vital in winning this entire thing.

>>4193988
>The Heroic Victory – defeating monsters will give you the power to not only win, but to defend yourself while you march to victory.

monster hunting every day

>>4193988
>The Heroic Victory – defeating monsters will give you the power to not only win, but to defend yourself while you march to victory.

So last night, rather than updating, I ate dinner and played FF7R until I passed out! This was the opposite of what I intended to do, so hey, sorry about that! Hope you all are doing well today.

>>4193999
>>4194007
>>4194016
>>4194104
Domination is the way to go! Writing now.

>>4194946

You instinctively know that Domination is the victory you’ll likely go for, due to the advantages that are associated with it. For one, by actively hunting other players, you’ll eliminate the likelihood of getting ambushed by them when you least expect it. To add to that, if you hang back a bit and take them out once they’ve gotten some XP, it means more gain for you – along with whatever loot they happen to have on them.

The way XP gains work are quite simple – monsters and players have levels. If you kill a monster or player that’s equal or higher than you, you will get a worthwhile XP bonus. If they are below you, it is a severely limited gain, which is an incentive by the game developers to encourage leaving lower level players alone for a bit so they can get their bearings.

That being said, this is an important match, so you’ll kill anyone you can as quick as you can – no need for formality when $500,000 is on the line. You will consider XP costs, however, just for your own assured survival.

A loud tune plays from all of the TVs in the room, causing you to wince and look up from the paper in your hands. The Chrysanthemum Studios logo is displayed across a white backdrop, and it slowly fades away to a panorama shot of the slowing filling arena on the other side of the building. It then cuts to the main stage area, in which a lot of arcade-looking consoles are placed in four different lines.

You know that there’s one hundred of them. To be completely honest, you haven’t seen that many in one place, especially not of the pod variant. The game is specifically not allowed in arcades, so this is definitely a bit of a surprise to you.

Apparently other people are also taken off guard, as a collective murmur goes through the room. Nancy is looking up at the TV with awe, and Clay looks like he’d rather be anywhere but there – a pit of excitement and anxiety worms its way into your guts.

There’s a timer on the screen, too. Five minutes left.

Five minutes to decide whether or not you’re going to be looking for a new home or not.

Joy.

>Stay still and focus on eliminating your own doubts – you’re not going to let this rattle you.
>Tease Nancy over her apparent state of awe – what, has she never been to an arcade before?
>Walk over and nudge Clay with a boot, and repeat your earlier words – the dude looks like a scared animal.
>Write-in.

>>4194953
>Walk over and nudge Clay with a boot, and repeat your earlier words – the dude looks like a scared animal.

>>4194953
>Stay still and inspect the competition, get a feel for the people you might be up against and how they might act.

>>4194953
>Stay still and focus on eliminating your own doubts – you’re not going to let this rattle you.

>>4194960
>>4194961
I feel like both of these can be worked together, so in the interest of continuing updates, I'll merge them! Writing now!

>>4194966

You click your tongue and avert your attention away from the interesting pair on the couch, and instead focus on the other people in the room. You’ve always dealt with your own stress by delving deep into whatever you happened to be doing at the time, and that just happens to be people-watching in this particular instance.

Without you noticing, the room has become much more populated. Almost all of the seats on the couches and at the tables have been taken, leaving a few people to stand at the corners of the room, looking incredibly antsy as they do. You wonder if you look just like them – probably not, since your default expression is apparently a scowl.

“I have this,” you murmur to yourself under your breath, to which no one notices. It’s less a concrete fact – you’re well aware that with 99 other players, your chances of having this is slim at best – but more to calm what little nerves you have. You don’t even know what weird shit they’re going to pull out for the match!

Chrysanthemum called this a historic event for the game, and as far as major studios go, they’re relatively quiet. They don’t host tournaments, they don’t give insight on the development process, they just go about their business and continue to improve upon an already great game. The fact that this is happening at all is frankly amazing to you!

You have no doubt that there’s going to be a spokesman announcing on the stage pretty soon, accompanied by people ushering you out of the room and towards the stage. Therefore, any time you have to glean information off of anyone in here is going to be slim at best, so you figure that you’d might as well focus on one person. That way, you’d be able to make a solid conclusion, rather than glancing over everyone and getting only hazy assumptions.

Now, with that in mind, you look across the room to find somebody to look at. There are…quite a few interesting characters in here, to say the least.

>The brown-haired boy who had given you a loud greeting when you walked in the room.
>A boy with fiery-red hair in a corner, crossing his arms and looking as if he wants a fight.
>A girl with white hair at one of the tables, who looks just as observant as you.
>A girl with blonde hair moving across the room, seemingly trying to chat up anyone who will listen.

>>4194975
>A girl with white hair at one of the tables, who looks just as observant as you.
Predator meets predator

>>4194975
>A girl with blonde hair moving across the room, seemingly trying to chat up anyone who will listen.

>>4194975
>>A girl with white hair at one of the tables, who looks just as observant as you.
Assert dominance over other predators

>>4194975
>A girl with white hair at one of the tables, who looks just as observant as you.

>>4194977
>>4194982
>>4194986
Writing now!

>>4195010

The person that draws your eyes most is sat at a corner table by herself, calmly observing the rest of the room with her chin rested on the backs of her hands.

You can’t imagine that her hair isn’t dyed, considering it looks as white as snow. From here, you can see her eyes slowly moving over the room, her body as still as a statue while she does so. There are no signs of stress and anxiety on her – she’s not even tapping her foot out of impatience, she’s just content to watch people as the timer slowly ticks down.

It strikes you that she’s quite similar to you, in that regard. That must be why as soon as you lay your eyes on her, her vision snaps to you, and you have the most tense stare down that you can recall having as of late.

A slow smile spreads across her face, almost like a shark having found its prey. Your natural response is to send forth the harshest glare you can muster, which seems to amuse her further, judging by the way she hides a chuckle behind slender and pale fingers.

You really don’t like this girl, and you have no doubt that she senses it. Which must be why she removes a hand from her chin and extends it towards you, curling a finger in a “come hither” gesture.

Definitely a ranger or a mage. Most melee players don’t know how to wait, and she’s showing no signs of worry or impatience.

She might be one of the more dangerous people in this competition. Good to know.

>Walk over to her – you’ll be able to get insight on her character by talking rather than staring.
>Shake your head – you have no interest talking to someone even remotely similar to you.
>Stare at her – you won’t cave to this woman. If she wants to talk, she can come over herself.
>Write-in.

>>4195019
>>Walk over to her – you’ll be able to get insight on her character by talking rather than staring.
ASSERT DOMINANCE

>>4195019
>Walk over to her – you’ll be able to get insight on her character by talking rather than staring.
>Observe her up close

ASSERT THE BIGGEST DOMINANCE

>>4195019
>>Stare at her – you won’t cave to this woman. If she wants to talk, she can come over herself.

>>4195019
>Walk over to her – you’ll be able to get insight on her character by talking rather than staring.

>>4195019
>>Stare at her – you won’t cave to this woman. If she wants to talk, she can come over herself.
Bow to no (wo)man, king.

>Walk over to her – you’ll be able to get insight on her character by talking rather than staring.

>>4195019
>Walk over to her – you’ll be able to get insight on her character by talking rather than staring.
Onion is a JoJo protagonist

File: youveviolatedthejaw.png (39 KB, 136x175)

39 KB PNG

>onionstares.jpg

>>4195278
How's it going Eito?

Imagine a timeline where a QM wished to do consistent updates all throughout the day, and instead was pulled on a ten hour shopping trip. Wouldn't that be great. Haha.

Let's do this.

>>4195020
>>4195023
>>4195151
>>4195277
>>4195278
Talk to the girl - what could go wrong? Writing now!

>>4195278
Onion watches dutifully.

>>4196021

It takes a solid few more seconds of actual eye contact for you to grit your teeth and move forward, forcing yourself to not look at the eyes drawn to you by the action. You’re not sure if you’re being scoped out or not, but it leaves you with a feeling of discomfort that doesn’t dissipate by the time you reach the table itself.

The girl looks up at you from behind a curtain of white hair, now resting her head against her palm as she looks you up and down. You’re not sure if she’s always been leaning forward like that, but you have no doubt that she’s purposely attempting to show you some of her cleavage in an attempt to throw you off – the way she’s staring at your eyes with a growing smirk confirms this.

“Is there something you want?”

Your tone comes out very annoyed, likely because this girl seems pretty similar to you. Very observant and willing to use unconventional tactics to take people off guard – the only thing different is that she has a smile on her face while doing it.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that? You’re the one that initiated this staring contest, after all.” Her voice is low, and you detect the faintest hint of a foreign accent to it. She makes a slight gesture with her free hand at the chair opposite to her, implying that you should sit.

Her eyes are purple, and unmistakably intelligent. She’s a magic user.

Although it sounds quite strange, people who tend to prefer magic are those who have a certain look behind their eyes, at least from your experience. Rangers are cautious, mages are cunning. That coupled with her incredibly low tone, and the fact that she’s most likely using colored contacts pegs her as a mage to you.

Why do the contacts matter? Well, they don’t really, mages just tend to look ostentatious when they can be. You fought a girl once with bright pink hair and an oversized spell book, and that shit was just wack.

>Sit down – now that you’re here, might as well chat.
>Walk away – you think you have what you came for.
>Continue staring – you will assert dominance.
>Write-in.

>>4196109
Sit down. Continue staring.

>>4196109
>Sit down and talk - but continue staring.

>>4196109
>Sit down – now that you’re here, might as well chat.

>>4196482
>>4196165
+1

Good afternoon, everyone! Let's get started.

>>4196165
>>4196482
>>4196836
Sit and stare. Writing now!

>>4196867

Not breaking your stare at the woman, you slowly lower yourself into the chair across from her, being sure to send forth all of the intimidating vibes you can muster. She seems highly amused by this, and begins speaking just as you get yourself settled in.

“My name is Widow. What’s yours?”

Her voice seems strangely saccharine, and it’s unsettling. You have no doubt that this girl came to play with all she has, which is respectable – doesn’t mean you’re not put off by it, though. It takes a certain kind of person to act like this when scoping out the competition, after all. It’s sort of cringey, but still effective – just like everyone intent on playing a character in real life is, you suppose.

“That your screenname, or your real name?” You ask her, resting your elbows on the table.

“My screenname, of course. Why would I ever need to tell you my real name? Seems awfully informal, wouldn’t you say?”

Wow, she’s laying it on a little thick.

“You know, you don’t have to try so hard,” you chuckle to yourself, mirroring the way she rests her head against a palm, “People tend to be extra wary of folks like you. Living a character doesn’t get any points with the crowd, y’know? Makes it seem like you’re very insecure about your own personality.”

Her eyes harden slightly, and once more, you know you’ve hit the mark. At least Nancy seems to be that energetic naturally - this person just oozes fakeness, and it’s especially noticeable once you were close enough to pick it out. It doesn’t knock her observational skills, but it does make her unpleasant to be around.

“Like you are?” You almost laugh at the simple response. What is she, a kindergartener?

>Go hard and assert dominance – she’s irritating, and you’re willing to call her on it.
>Lean off a bit and ask her how she qualified for this event – you did come here for information, after all.
>Raise your hands and say you meant nothing by it – no use in making proper enemies on the first day.
>Write-in.

>>4196911
Literal "No u" response
>>Go hard and assert dominance – she’s irritating, and you’re willing to call her on it.

>>4196911
>Lean off a bit and ask her how she qualified for this event – you did come here for information, after all.
No use in getting her mad but also assert enough dominance so she isn't comfortable

>>4196911
>Go hard and assert dominance – she’s irritating, and you’re willing to call her on it. No way she responded that way for no reason.
Pretty sure she's seeing how we'll react, so why not go all in.

>>4196911
>>Lean off a bit and ask her how she qualified for this event – you did come here for information, after all.

>>4196911
>Lean off a bit and ask her how she qualified for this event – you did come here for information, after all.

>>4196919
>>4196955
>>4196960
Only go for slight dominance - you're a relatively civil dude. Writing now!

>>4196970

As much fun as it would be to get this girl riled up enough, you really don’t feel like making any enemies today. If this is a weeklong event – enough so where you had to book a local hotel – chances are this won’t be the last time you see her throughout the week. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so you won’t go all in on busting up this girl and the shitty way she lives her life.

You’re absolutely going to keep going in a little bit, though. You came over here for information, and the start of even more gathering will begin with a response to her entirely childish response.

“I know the type of person I am, and I’m very secure in it.” You give her an obviously faux grin, kicking back a bit and finishing the last of your apple juice. Widow looks to you with an unamused expression, the mystique formerly clouding her now gone entirely for you. Other people are looking at the two of you with nervous eyes – Clay is one of them, actually – but you’re determined to make this encounter not a bust.

“So, how’d you qualify for this? Actual skill, or did you use media connections?”

“Actual skills, I’ll have you know. People who get in here off of anything but their own laurels are cowards. I bet that’s what you did.” She still has that certain abrasive quality to her voice, but you recognize that you’ve upset her just a little bit – good. You don’t want to make an enemy, but you also don’t want to let her get off completely scot free!

You’re a bit of an asshole, but you know that you are. It’s whatever.

“Afraid to tell you, Widow, but I’m here completely because of skill too. I don’t have many media connections anymore – and I’m definitely not a streamer.”

“I don’t know if I believe you. What’s your screenname?”

“Orangentle, but you can call me Orange.”

You see a glimmer of recognition pass over her eyes.

>”Yes, I’m the one from Warscape back in the day.” You might as well address it, there’s no reason to hide it.
>It’s up to her if she wants to bring attention to it, you really don’t care.
>Ask her another question to throw her off the scent – you don’t feel like having this conversation right now. (Write-in a question for her.)

>>4197007
>It’s up to her if she wants to bring attention to it, you really don’t care.

>It’s up to her if she wants to bring attention to it, you really don’t care.
If she knows she knows, nothing to really do about it.

>>4197007
>>It’s up to her if she wants to bring attention to it, you really don’t care.

>>4197007
>Ask her another question to throw her off the scent – you don’t feel like having this conversation right now. (Write-in a question for her.)

Ask her about the accent

>>4197007
>It’s up to her if she wants to bring attention to it, you really don’t care.

>>4197007
>>It’s up to her if she wants to bring attention to it, you really don’t care.

Good morning, everyone! I'd like to apologize about the absences - things have gotten busy for me, and you know I hate not being consistent. Things should calm down somewhat today, though, so we'll see where we're at as the day goes on! Let's get started.

>>4197013
>>4197016
>>4197018
>>4197071
>>4197505
Writing now!

>>4198369

You don’t let the look bother you whatsoever. Unlike a certain boy somewhere probably, you have no problems with people recognizing you from your Warscape days. Just because you made yourself as scarce as possible afterwards doesn’t mean you hated that time – hell, it was pretty fun, even if you were only in it for the money. You weren’t – and still aren’t – the most talkative of folks, but Genesys was a group where you didn’t have to talk to soak up the good environment.

Shame that it ended, but you don’t hold any hard feelings. With people literally throwing things through your team house windows due to the circumstances at the Invitational, shit got very tense towards the end.

“Aren’t you like…a famous streamer, or something?” She poses the question to you, and you know she’s not that stupid, she’s just trying to bait a response out of you.

“I’ve never streamed IS in my life, so I don’t know what to tell you.”

You shrug your shoulders and glance towards the TV, noticing that there’s a minute left on the timer. Someone in a black suit has entered the room through the stairwell, and is looking towards the TV himself as the timer ticks down. He’s no doubt the one who’s supposed to shepherd everyone back up and through the other door.

You can’t help but wonder what the interior of the arena looks like in person. You saw glances on the television, but you have no doubt it’s going to be different when you’re actually there. The heat of the crowd, standing around your fellow competitors…going up on stage is always stressful to an extent, which is why you were always the first one off of it.

A moment of silence falls between the two of you.

>You’re curious – ask her about her accent.
>Return to Clay and Nancy – you don’t feel like being here anymore.
>Go to the bar and get another glass of apple juice for the road.
>Ask her anything else that might interest you. (Write-in questions.)
>Write-in.

>>4198380
>Return to Clay and Nancy – you don’t feel like being here anymore.

>>4198380
>You’re curious – ask her about her accent

The more we know the more we can exploit

>>4198380
>You’re curious – ask her about her accent.

>>4198380
You’re curious – ask her about her accent.

>>4198386
>>4198394
>>4198416
Pose the question with the last of your time. Writing now!

>>4198445

“So, since we’re most likely about to be ushered out of the room—”

She immediately looks to the timer, and then the doorway, and then back at you.

“—I have to ask, since I’m curious. What’s with your accent? Is that something else you’re putting on, or is it natural?”

It’s faint enough that you can’t pick up on what the origin is, and yet it’s still very noticeable. She seems very upset by your implication that it’s also fake, as she visibly stops herself from slamming her hands against the table and chooses to glare at you harshly. You’re unaffected, and instead choose to continue staring back at her.

Man, asserting dominance like this is pretty great. You’d do it more, but that’s effort you don’t feel like expending – also you never leave your house, so the opportunities aren’t really there for you.

“It’s real, damnit.”

“Where are you from, then?”

“Russia!”

“Sounds a little too faint to be from there. You sure it’s not—”

“It IS real. I moved here when I was young, and it’s still there somewhat. So what? What’s the issue with having a goddamn accent?”

“You’re the one who’s making an issue over it. I think my assumption was reasonable, considering your entire shtick.” You wave a hand at her and rise from your seat, just as the timer on the television ticks down to 0. Almost perfectly on cue, a new tune plays as the Chrysanthemum logo is displayed, and the man at the door immediately calls for everyone’s attention.

“Alright, everyone, please follow me up to the entrance area! The match is going to start after the pre-announcement, so let’s hurry up!”

Nancy practically teleports over to your side and pats you hard on the shoulder, urging you towards the door. Clay seems to be following the two of you with his hands in his pocket, looking a little bit more relaxed, however not by much.

“I am going to destroy you.” You hear Widow say from out of your vision, and you can’t stifle the laugh that comes up.

>”May the best player win, Widow.” Retain sportsmanship.
>”We’ll see if you can walk the walk, Widow.” Taunt her just a little bit.
>”You don’t have a chance in hell of that.” Assert dominance.
>Write-in.

>>4198525
>>”May the best player win, Widow.” Retain sportsmanship.

>>4198525
>"Good luck." As fuck as asserting dominance is, it'd be a shame for her to get out too early.

>>4198525
>”May the best player win, Widow.” Retain sportsmanship.

>>4198525
>”May the best player win, Comrade.” Retain sportsmanship.

>>4198537
Addendum, use tovarish instead of comrade

>>4198525
>”May the best player win, Widow.” Retain sportsmanship.

>>4198525
>>”May the best player win, Widow.” Retain sportsmanship.

>>4198525
>>4198540
Seconding those

I'm back! For some reason, my classes switched around a bunch of due dates - apparently an exam I already did was due today, and an assignment I was supposed to do today was due last week. Shit's fucking weird.

>>4198530
>>4198536
>>4198545
>>4198567
May the best player win. Writing now!

>>4198736

“May the best player win, Widow.”

You turn around and give her a positively scathing smirk, adjusting your hoodie and making your way towards the door as you do. The flash of anger that crosses over her face is far too good, and you usher Nancy along before Widow can come up and hit you in real life.

“Didja know that person, Orion? Looks like you were pissin’ her off something fierce!” Nancy chirps as the two of you pass through the doorway, immediately being squished against a horde of other people heading in the same direction. You can vaguely hear the director telling everybody to make their way up the stairs, but the din caused by everyone is too loud for you to hear him talking.

People’s speculations are now running wild, and you catch all of them in broken pieces as you slowly ascend the stairs. Some people are talking about being stuck in the console for a week, others are already plotting dinner celebrations, and you think you can vaguely hear that one loud dude still chatting? Christ, he must have a motor mouth.

“She was looking at me funny, so I went over and talked to her. Wanted to scope her out a bit.”

“I mean, you were sorta lookin’ at everyone funny, Orion. Thought Clay mighta had an attack of some kind if you were to keep looking at him--!”

“Shut up.” The boy’s voice is barely heard from behind you, but it’s enough to get a chuckle out of you.

“—and that didn’t look like much of a conversation to me, seemed like you were just egging her on! Was pretty funny to listen to, though.”

>”She’s a dangerous player, so I wouldn’t take her so lightly.” Try to give her and the boy behind you some semblance of warning.
>”Come on, Nancy, I’m sure we hit it off just fine.” Laugh about the whole situation – she may be dangerous, but she isn’t gonna get you.
>”You know, eavesdropping isn’t appreciated.” You were trying to keep things on the downlow.
>Roll your eyes and continue up the stairs – now’s the time for you to focus on strategy, not conversation.
>Write-in.

>>4198748
>”She’s a dangerous player, so I wouldn’t take her so lightly.” Try to give her and the boy behind you some semblance of warning.

>>4198748
>Roll your eyes and continue up the stairs – now’s the time for you to focus on strategy, not conversation.

>>4198748
>”She’s a dangerous player, so I wouldn’t take her so lightly.” Try to give her and the boy behind you some semblance of warning.

>>4198748
>Roll your eyes and continue up the stairs – now’s the time for you to focus on strategy, not conversation.

>>4198748
>Roll your eyes and continue up the stairs – now’s the time for you to focus on strategy, not conversation.

>”She’s a dangerous player, so I wouldn’t take her so lightly.” Try to give her and the boy behind you some semblance of warning.
the more people are forewarned about her, the harder it is for her to catch them by surprise

>>4198748
>”She’s a dangerous player, so I wouldn’t take her so lightly.” Try to give her and the boy behind you some semblance of warning.

>>4198748
>>”You know, eavesdropping isn’t appreciated.” You were trying to keep things on the downlow.

>>4198751
>>4198761
>>4198912
>>4199278
Can someone say late-night update? Not dead quite yet, just had a very fucking busy day today! Writing now!

Also, for those that remember last year around this time, the porcupine is back. Motherfucker.

>>4201362

“I wouldn’t take her so lightly, Nancy,” you warn as you move away from an errant elbow, someone apparently trying his best to rush up the stairs. You give him a hard shove in response, but duck out of the way of his vision as he crashes into the wall, “she’s a pretty dangerous customer. I’m pretty sure she’d be able to out-magic you any day of the week – she uses magic, by the way.”

“Not a lot of people could do that, yanno! I didn’t get here off of my cute looks, although I definitely could have!” Nancy laughs, patting you roughly on the shoulder. You grimace as it immediately begins to ache – those arms are a menace to society, and if anything, you’d say that detract from her supposed cute looks. Not many people would like a dislocated shoulder due to her not knowing her own strength.

“Watch the fucking arms, jeez—just look out for her, if you can. Dunno if the names will show up when you get close, since it’s a big tournament, but her name is Widow. Don’t let her take you by surprise, because I’m sure she will—she’s a sneaky bastard.”

“You’re bein’ awfully forthright with information~! Thank you kindly, Orion, I’ll try not to let you down!”

“Thank you very much.”

Clay chimes in from the back, and you flash the kid a thumbs up.

“No problem. Remember what I said earlier, and you’ll be fine. And Nancy, try not to eavesdrop on my conversations. Shit is rude.”

“Sorry~!”

You can tell that she’s anything but.

Eventually, the three of you push past the threshold and immediately scurry to a more open space, trying to escape the oppressive crowd. Now that you’re away from it a bit, you can hear the voices of more workers trying to rise above the crowd, along with cheers that rumble through the arena. You glance towards the large set of doors leading out, and find that people are actively keeping them shut in order to prevent people from coming in late.

“Didn’t realize this was so high-maintenance.” You idly remark, causing Clay to speak up again.

“Well, this is a big deal. It wouldn’t surprise me that they don’t want any unexpected factors to ruin it, wouldn’t you agree?”

“That makes sense when you put it like that. Think there will be party crashers?”

“Not if they don’t want to get tazed.”

“Fair enough.”

You can feel the heat of Nancy staring at your back, and you look over your shoulder to find her doing so.

Geez, she’s annoying.

>”What’s up?” Might as well ask what’s on her mind.
>Cup your hand around your ear – you’ll tactically tease her while hopefully getting her to speak up.
>Shrug your shoulders and make your way further into the crowd – you’d like to get in there as soon as possible. [This will require a roll.]
>Write-in.

>>4201393
>”What’s up?” Might as well ask what’s on her mind.
Better to not waste any time

>>4201393
>>”What’s up?” Might as well ask what’s on her mind.

>>4201393
>What’s up?” Might as well ask what’s on her mind.

>>4201393
>”What’s up?” Might as well ask what’s on her mind

>>4201393
>”What’s up?” Might as well ask what’s on her mind.

>slow updates
Cir is kill. Homework got to him.

>>4201393
>”What’s up?” Might as well ask what’s on her mind.

>>4202623
Have a little faith, he'll be back

>>4203744
Cir is kill. One more god rejected.

And on the 5th Day, He rose from death.
In Betlehem He spoke upon his disciples; "Worry not for I will only purchase tobacco at the Temple."

>>4202623
>>4203744
>>4204544
>>4204574
I lived, bitch. Let's get this rolling.

>>4201399
>>4201409
>>4201479
>>4201636
>>4201798
>>4202691
Unanimous vote! Writing now!

>>4204597

At this point, you could make a reasonable comparison between Nancy and a small, energetic dog. She seems to say whatever crosses her mind without consideration, she has no boundaries whatsoever, and she’s perfectly willing to keep nagging you until you finally indulge her in whatever she’s looking to achieve.

You legitimately can hardly believe that she’s related to Drifter, one of the most stoic people you’ve ever met. Deep down, you know she’s a good person, but the presence she exudes immediately puts people on guard. Some people were afraid to go up and ask for her autograph at signings due to the look in her eyes, and you remember both Wolfgang and Buster grilling her over it.

She’d respond with a thinly veiled threat, and it would work perfectly – at least on Wolfgang. Despite his cockiness, he was pretty much a wimp at the end of the day. You wonder if he’s changed since he bailed from the competitive league.

“What’s up?” You eventually cede to Nancy, to which she immediately steps forward and begins staring again, stroking her chin with metal fingers as she does. You take an instinctive step back and scowl at her – what, is she looking for a fight? This is fucking weird.

“It may sound weird, but I’m wondering how I’m gonna fit you into my story when I see you!”

Ah, RP streamer. Got it.

“…what, pray tell, does that mean?”

“Well, of course I’m gonna be trying my best, but I have to think of my audience! Apparently, they’re gonna always have the camera on us, so all 100 perspectives are available at the same time! That means I can’t be a slouch!”

Huh, that’s news to you.

“That might be a little awkward, wouldn’t you think? Also, how do you know that, anyways?”

“You hear some things! Anyways, it just ensures that people are able to navigate to the player they really like without having to go to their individual streams! I think there’s gonna be a super neat layout for it, too? It’s pretty great!”

“…you know all of this shit, yet you don’t know the facets of the match itself?”

“I can only hear so much, you know? But putting that aside, let’s see…I’m thinking you might be the dashing rogue, who comes in for the save when I’m at my darkest moment, preventing my certain doom! How’s that sound to you?” She winks, and your eye twitches.

>”That could be accurate, providing I’m anywhere near you when it happens.”
>”At the rate you’re going, I’m gonna be the primary antagonist.”
>”Didn’t you catch my drift earlier? I’m not interested in teaming with you.”
>”Why don’t you ask Clay? He can be your gallant knight, or whatever. Leave me out of it.”
>Write-in.

>>4204613
>”That could be accurate, providing I’m anywhere near you when it happens.”

>>4204619
I'm more than willing to go off of one vote today to keep the train rolling, so writing now!

>>4204637
Welcome back chief! Was off cycling.

>”That could be accurate, providing I’m anywhere near you when it happens.”
would have voted this anyway.

>>4204643
Thank you kindly! Hope you had a good time cycling, the weather's finally warm up here, so I can go on walks again.

>>4204637

“That could be accurate, providing I’m anywhere near you when it happens. Just because it’s one island doesn’t mean we’ll spawn near each other – and trust me, if it’s the end of the match, I’m coming after you with all I have.”

The intensity of the statement makes Clay flinch, but Nancy shows no sign of being bothered – she simply moves past you like the wind, making her way towards the congregation of people.

“Oh, trust me! I’m not gonna go down easy if it comes to that, but let’s have a great story together regardless, okay?”

The words are almost cryptic in a way, and just as she disappears into the crowd, you hear a loud voice from near the doors speak up.

“Alright, players! Please form a single file line as we head into the room! It’s a straight shot down to the stage, so let’s keep things orderly! If you cause a ruckus, you WILL be penalized, or even ejected from the competition!”

This causes the crowd to quiet and immediately move, the mass of people slowly forming into a single file line. You look to Clay, who seems to be waiting for your movement, so you sigh and lead him towards the very back of the line.

You’ve completely lost sight of Nancy, but you don’t think you have to worry about her for the moment. If she suddenly keels over, people will notice, and medical personnel will no doubt be notified. With the knowledge that Drifter has no solid grounds to indict you (yet), you’re able to stand still and cross your arms without worry.

“You, uh, ready for this?” Clay tries to make some form of conversation as everyone anxiously awaits for the doors to be opened.

“As ready as I’ll ever be. Think you’ll be ready once we get in game?” You pose the question back to him, mentally ticking down seconds in your head. From beyond the door, you hear and feel the rumbling of the crowd.

“Once we get in, I think I’ll be okay. Until that point, though…” he nervously chuckles as he taps his fingers against his leg, “well, I’m not used to the attention all that much. I just sit at home and play all day.”

“Well, you’d be the same as me, then. And if I’m doing fine, you can do fine too.”

You reach back and give him a solid pat on the shoulder, and that’s when the flood gates open.

The entrance must have been opened, considering the loud cheers that make their way into the room. You immediately wince at the sheer volume, and that’s when an even louder voice makes itself known, reverberating throughout the arena.

“NOW, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO! LET’S MEET OUR WARRIORS!”

>Make your way down stoically, like you always would. You’re here to win, not to pander.
>Try to attract the audience to you – more eyes on you means more money in the future, should you do it well. [This will require a roll.]
>Focus on the arena itself rather than the audience – you’re wondering how they’re managing a 100 camera system with people there in person.
>Write-in.

>>4204660
>Make your way down stoically, like you always would. You’re here to win, not to pander.

>>4204645
Thanks and I did! There's a lot more people out than should be but that meant I got chatting with people I haven't seen in a while!

>The words are almost cryptic in a way, and just as she disappears into the crowd
imo this rp personality is all a ploy to underestimate her

>>4204660
>Make your way down stoically, like you always would. You’re here to win, not to pander.
This is orange

>>4204660
>Make your way down stoically, like you always would. You’re here to win, not to pander.

>>4204669
>>4204679
>>4204698
Remain calm, be yourself. Writing now!

>>4204669
Glad you got to catch up with people, that's always neat!

>>4204714

You let out a gentle sigh and keep your eyes trained on the back of the head of the person in front of you. You have never been the type to pander, and you won’t do it now even if it would get eyes on you. You vehemently dislike being in the limelight, so even doing such a thing for potential future income is completely out of the question. All you have to do is just keep moving along and playing the game.

When you finally reach the threshold leading into the arena, the temperature changes entirely. While it was moderately warm inside the waiting room and the entrance, in here the air is practically sweltering. The cheers of the crowd are now fully in your ears, and you grit your teeth due to the overwhelming pressure on both sides of you. The entrance way leads to a red carpeted walk that morphs into stairs halfway down, and when you get past those, the arena is fully in sight.

To put it frankly, it’s fucking massive.

The seats go all the way around the dome, and every single one is filled with a roaring member of the crowd. Towards the ceiling – which is a glass dome that shows the vast sky above – are rooms that are no doubt for people who purchased VIP tickets. As you move along, you can see that in front of every seat is a wide screen with a headset attached to it, no doubt for the one hundred perspectives that Nancy mentioned.

This must have cost a small fucking fortune, goddamn.

“M-Man, the pressure is insane in here,” Clay murmurs in your ear as he walks, trying to keep his eyes pinned to you, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people in one place.”

“Just keep walking, Clay,” You say simply, trying your best to not glare at the crowd, yet failing anyways. Resting bitch face is a hard syndrome to deal with, “it’ll all be over once we get in the damn console.”

“Easy for you to say.” He offers a wheezy chuckle, his voice obviously shaky. You can’t help but feel bad for the kid – seems like he was woefully unprepared to be in the spotlight. At least you have experience with it.

“Remember what I said earlier?”

“Yeah, but that was when we were in the waiting room. Now we’re in this place. There’s gotta be a few thousand people here, fuck.”

“And most of them are gonna end up cheering you on if you do well, so just do well. Easy enough, right?”

“More like easier said than done.”

>Continue in silence.
>”Is there anything I can do for you that will make you calm the fuck down?”
>Try and spot Nancy and/or Widow as you make your way down.
>Look throughout the crowd for any people of note. [This will require a HIGH roll.]
>Write-in.

>>4204740
>Continue in silence.
Not much we can do now

>>4204740
>Continue in silence.

>>4204740
>>Look throughout the crowd for any people of note. [This will require a HIGH roll.]

Heading off quickly to make some lunch, vote's open until I get back! Thank you very much for how patient you've been with me over the past few days, I hope you've enjoyed reading, and thank you for sticking it out this long!

>>4204740
>Continue in silence.

>>4204740
>Continue in silence.

>>4204740
>Look throughout the crowd for any people of note. [This will require a HIGH roll.]
otherwise
>Continue in silence.

I'm back! Food was great. I'm going to be updating as consistently as I can up until 4:00 PM my time (so 1hr45min, roughly). Then I have a game of D&D to run, and then I'll be back to write a liiiittle bit more.

>>4204748
>>4204770
>>4204824
>>4204893
Writing now!

>>4205038

You keep your mouth shut from then onwards, realizing that there’s nothing you can do for the boy. His nerves will hopefully abate in time, and even if they don’t, that will likely mean that he will lose. The kid’s alright, but you’d rather him get fucked over by nerves than you, so advice is all you’re able to give him for the time being.

After another minute of walking and cheers reverberating throughout the arena, you finally step onto the platform itself. The line has begun to curve off to the side, meaning that they must want you all to stand straight across in a line as well. From your position at the end of the pack, you can see that the stage is fucking huge – the spokesperson is shaking the hands of everyone who comes down, and there are many consoles littered about.

How long has it been since you’ve sat in a full-body console? At home, it’s just a headset that you put on as you sit down in a chair. You’re definitely not used to that shit – hell, back then Warscape was only a headset. It’s crazy how far people have come in the realm of VR technology, but hey, that’s what pays your bills!

When you take position near the very end of the stage next to Clay, you look out amongst the crowd one more time. The room looks especially big from this perspective, and you idly spot a drone camera doing a sweep of the lineup, which then displays across several screens strewn throughout the stadium.

You feel like a fish in a bowl, and rightfully so.

“LOOK AT THEM! THESE ONE-HUNDRED PLAYERS HAVE QUALIFIED FOR THIS PRESTIGIOUS BOUT!” The black-haired spokesperson throws both of his hands back as he speaks into the microphone, apparently trying to highlight the scale of such a thing. “Through various demonstrations of skill and of character, Chrysanthemum has identified these individuals to take place in the grandest adventure to ever grace the world of this game!”

You cross your arms and begin to tap your foot, visibly looking impatient. Clay sort of nudges you in the side, but a glare from you makes him stop.

“Now, I am more than certain we all wish to get to the meat of things, but I must announce the particular nuances of this bout! I am sure that you all have been wondering – what makes this such a historic event? What warrants all of this buildup? Is it going to be just a regular game!? THE ANSWER IS NO!”

He slashes his arm through the air, and something new appears on the screen.

A simple map. Unlike the usual fare, which is a single randomly generated island, something new stands there.

There are seven islands. One is in the middle, and six surround it.

This time, you feel the bolt of shock that comes through you.

>Stand still and wait for the spokesman to continue – you don’t want to assume just yet.
>Confer with Clay about your opinion – two heads are better than one.
>Try and gauge the other competitors reactions to this revelation.
>Write-in.

>>4205083
>Try and gauge the other competitors reactions to this revelation.

>>4205083
>>Try and gauge the other competitors reactions to this revelation.

>>4205083
>Try and gauge the other competitors reactions to this revelation.

>>4205086
>>4205100
>>4205101
Examine the vibe, as the youth say. Writing now!

>>4205132

(Sorry for the wait, words were being shit. See you when I’m back from D&D!)

You lean forward a bit so you’re able to glance down the line, yet stealthily enough to remain as inconspicuous as you can. There are some people who are looking up at the screen with slack jaws, others with determined looks on their faces, and more than a few who look very nervous at this sudden development.

Two reactions in particular stand out to you, though.

Nancy has her arms crossed, and she’s looking at the screen with an almost serene expression across her face. Her eyes are eagerly looking over the map, apparently trying her best to commit it to memory while it’s still on the screen.

She looks unsurprised. You may have to inquire about that later.

The other is Widow, who has an almost vicious smile on her face as she observes the screen. Maybe due to the fact that all attention is away from her, she seems to have dropped her mysterious guise, and has let quite a look of malintent cross her face.

“Hmm, interesting.” You remark under your breath, turning to look at Clay as well. He’s just as shocked as everyone else, which is entirely understandable.

Seven islands for seven days. Those motherfuckers.

“As you can see by the screen, this world is widening in scope for this week! Rather than one landmass, we have seven ripe for claiming glory and adventure! Every single day, one island will sink! If you happen to be on it, you best be expedient, otherwise you will sleep with the fishes!”

The crowd cheers at the man’s proclamation, and he hushes them with a wave of his arm.

“And not only that, but in order to get off of a sinking island, you must reach a certain level. Therefore, you must showcase all of your skill if you want to have a chance in hell of fighting in this competition!”

Your mind races – that’s pretty interesting. Some people are going to be on a time-crunch immediately, while others have all the time in the world to level up and secure a threshold of power…at least until their own island begins to sink, that is.

This is a dangerous match, and yet, it’s exhilarating all the same. You don’t have to worry about the regular four hour time limit, and yet, there’s an entirely different thing to worry about now. A competitive spark rises in your chest – you will win this fucking fight.

“There will be scheduled points where the players will be drawn out of the machine so they can eat, sleep, and bathe. There will be two separate sessions every day – one from 8 AM to 1 PM, and one from 2 PM to 9 PM. Be sure to catch them, whether you’re here in this arena, or sitting at home!”

The crowd is practically chomping at the bit to begin, and the spokesperson eagerly indulges them.

“WITH THOSE SIMPLE RULES IN PLACE, I HAVE ONE QUESTION FOR ALL OF YOU! ARE! YOU! READY!?”

(1/2)

>>4205209

The audience screams in affirmation.

“THEN I WON’T KEEP YOU ANY LONGER! PLAYERS! FIND! YOUR! CONSOLES!”

You pull out the golden card and look to the back of it – your console number is apparently #69, which makes you sigh on a deep, visceral level.

>Go to your console immediately – it’s time to begin.
>Accompany Clay to his – he looks like he’s going to shit a brick.
>Find Nancy and remind her to meet you after the match.
>Find Widow and antagonize her to the best of your ability.
>Write-in.

>>4205213
>Find Nancy and remind her to meet you after the match.

>>4205213
>Go to your console immediately – it’s time to begin.

>>4205213
>Go to your console immediately – it’s time to begin.

>>4205213
>>Accompany Clay to his – he looks like he’s going to shit a brick.
Poor kid

>>4205258
seconding

>>4205213
>Go to your console immediately – it’s time to begin.

poor dude but he's on his own now

>>4205213
>Go to your console immediately – it’s time to begin.
We did our best to help him, but from now on, it's a free-for-all.

Back! They said I did a good job running the session, so that's really neat!

>>4205219
>>4205221
>>4205372
>>4205475
It's time to begin. Writing now!

>>4205698

(This is going to be my last one for the night, as the D&D session tired me out quite a bit! Thank you very much for still sticking around even after a few days of hardly any updates, it really does mean a lot. I’ll see you again tomorrow, everyone. I hope you’re having a great night! See you soon.)

As much as you’d like to help the boy, you’ve done all you feasibly can for him. From this point onwards, it’s a free-for-all, and you’re not going to be caught unaware when he does get his bearings. He’s a good kid, but you really don’t think he’s cut out for the stage, so hopefully he loses with some grace.

“Good luck, kid.” You say to him, walking away before he gets a chance to respond. The stage is a mess as the crowd continues to cheer, people moving around hurriedly in an attempt to get inside of their pods. You move at your own pace, eventually finding pod number #69 without being shoved too much, and you proceed to get inside of it.

The interior is very plush and comfortable, surprisingly. As soon as you kick your feet up and settle in, you hear the machine begin to whir, and all of a sudden you see a visor appear in front of you slowly. Moments later, it activates itself, and you can see strings of numbers flash across it faster than you can process.

“Well, looks like it’s time to start.” You say aloud to yourself, crossing your arms as the spokesperson begins to raise his voice again.

“ALRIGHT, EVERYONE! Prepare yourself for a grand tale, a grand story, and a grand race for glory! The skies are infinite, just like your potential! LET THE GAME BEGIN!”

Almost instantly after the words begin to fade out in the stadium, you are slowly pulled into the familiar sensation of being hooked into the virtual world, all to the sound of a roaring crowd.

You’re not sure how much time passes with your vision in darkness. All that you’re aware of is that you still possess the capacity to think, and you can feel nothing. You are drifting through an endless void, mentally counting down until the moment of the game’s beginning. You would sigh if you had lips, and you would be tapping your foot if you had feet.

All of a sudden, a light ping rings in your ears, and you gasp as the darkness is broken by three sources of light. They emerge from the inky blackness, approaching you leisurely as you sit and stare at them. In front of you stands your choice of starting weapon – and it appears to be an incredibly even spread, at that.

You’ve been in circumstances where you only had one type of weapon to choose from. Now, all three – melee, ranged, and magic – stand before you.

What will you pick, Orion?

>The silver straight sword.
>The reinforced long bow.
>The weathered mage’s grimoire.

>>4205724
>The reinforced long bow.
Less complexity or room for error than magic. Greater distance and therefore more safety, options for position, and strategic advantages than pure melee.

>>4205724
>>The weathered mage’s grimoire.

>>4205724
>The reinforced long bow.


the weapon selection reminds me of dragon's dogma

>>4205724
>The reinforced long bow.

>>4205724
>>The reinforced long bow.

>>4205724
>>The reinforced long bow.

>>4205724
>The reinforced long bow.

we just gotta make sure we arent too cautious using it or we become like every other archer

>>4205724
>The weathered mage’s grimoire.
Didn't we say we usually go for magic?

>>4206331
aye we did, you know what fair enough switching from >>4206209 to
>The weathered mage’s grimoire.

Good evening, everyone! Had a busy day today, but I have time to update for a while this evening. Let's get this ball rolling!

>>4205727
>>4205742
>>4205832
>>4205867
>>4206062
Writing now.

>>4207430

You immediately reach out with your hand – or where your hand should be, at least – and touch the reinforced long bow. Even if you have no presence in this spiritual medium, you can feel the cool wood brush against your fingertips, the sheer quality of this starter weapon apparent even with such a little graze.

While you prefer magic nowadays, you will bust out all of the stops that you need to in order to win this $500,000 grand prize. You’re a good shot, and that’s all you’ll need to win this – if worst comes to worst, you’ll pick up magic as an auxiliary weapon should it come to it. With this, all you’ll need to worry about is your positioning, your stratagems, and your own skill.

All of a sudden, the bow begins to slowly morph into green motes of light, spinning around you in a dazzling display of color. It’s almost calming in a certain kind of way, and just when that calm begins to take hold of you, you find yourself jerked back into darkness and away from the light. There’s a strong sensation of wind that slowly increases as you’re forcefully moved through this darkened area. The gale feels like it’s stripping the flesh from your bones, and then you’re falling through this endless void, something dark and hard and deep pulling at your navel—

https://youtu.be/LNB-UM5h710

You wake up with an aching body.

There is a heavy warmth that lingers in the air, accompanied by the gentle crackling of burning wood. You feel rough fabric against your exposed forearms, no doubt from an approximation of a medieval, rough-hewn blanket. When you finally manage to crack open your eyes, shadows dance across the ceiling and closed window with hypnotic fervor, the fleeting things caused by a small fireplace nestled into the corner of the wooden room.

Moving your head a bit, you find that there’s a small table that rests next to your rather shoddy bed. The bow you had accepted moments ago rests against it, and a quiver of twenty arrows is propped up next to it. You let out a slight yawn and remove the blanket from your now sweltering body, looking at yourself as you do. A worn brown tunic hangs off of your frame, along with pants that are tied to your waist with woven strands of hemp.

“Well, looks like we’re in the shit now.” You yawn again and crack your neck, scanning the room as you do. Looks like you spawned in a little tavern this time around, if the very distant clinking of glass and chatter were any indication.

What would you like to do?

>Rise up and move towards the window – you’ll see what environment you’re working with and decide a course of action from there.
>Move down into the bar itself and attempt to gather information about the environment – you might be able to snag a quest while you’re at it, too.
>Get out of the tavern and immediately go on the prowl – if there’s any monsters or players to be found in the area, you’ll damn well be the first to get to them.
>Write-in.

>>4207458
>>Rise up and move towards the window – you’ll see what environment you’re working with and decide a course of action from there.

>>4207458
>Move down into the bar itself and attempt to gather information about the environment – you might be able to snag a quest while you’re at it, too.

>>4207458
>Move down into the bar itself and attempt to gather information about the environment – you might be able to snag a quest while you’re at it, too.

>>4207475
>>4207496
Writing now!

>>4207510

You pull yourself up from your sitting position and grab for the quiver on the bedside table, immediately fastening it across your back, in order to have quick drawing ability should you need it. You grab your bow as well and sling it over your shoulder by the string, approaching the door as you do.

The best place for you to start, in your opinion, is trying to gather information in the bar while looking for quest givers. They’re quite easily spotted, as they tend to have a golden mote slowly circling around their heads. The benefits of quests vary greatly in this setting – you may get the standard gold and item rewards, you might get an ally for a future fight, or even the favor of the entire town depending on the quest giver.

If you’re lucky enough, you might just find someone who owns a shop, and you’ll end up with a discount on their wares.

You reach out and push open the wooden door, causing the scent of honey and meat to waft through the opening, along with the din of conversation in full force. You allow yourself to take it in for a moment, as it does smell quite good, and as you turn to shut the door, you find yourself running into someone and knocking them to the floor.

“Oh, shoot—sorry!” A feminine voice calls from the floor, and you turn to regard her as she begins to pull herself to her feet.

She has long golden hair put into a braid, and a light dusting of freckles across her fair skin. She’s wearing what appears to be a tied corset and flowy clothes underneath – a typical barmaid if you’ve ever seen one. After dusting herself off, she gives you a very cautious look, before brightening up and flashing you a winning smile.

“Hey, you’re the man who came into town yesterday! Are you feeling any better? Last we saw you, to be honest, you looked a few inches away from death!”

This woman is an NPC. Despite looking and talking as natural as someone could, she is not a real person. Chrysanthemum has somehow perfected artificial intelligence to a strange extent, which led to the concept of this game. A multiplayer game with a living, breathing world to inhabit and play in.

>”Yeah, I really needed the rest. Thank you.” Start with politeness, and then you’ll move into asking about quests.
>”Mm. Do you need any help around here?” Be upfront with your desires, time is of the essence.
>Nod and turn away from her, walking into the other room. She doesn’t have a quest halo, therefore you don’t want to waste your time.
>Write-in.

>>4207543
>>”Mm. Do you need any help around here?” Be upfront with your desires, time is of the essence.

>>4207543
>”Mm. Do you need any help around here?” Be upfront with your desires, time is of the essence.

>>4207543
>”Mm. Do you need any help around here?” Be upfront with your desires, time is of the essence.

>>4207543
>”Mm. Do you need any help around here?” Be upfront with your desires, time is of the essence.

>>4207543
>”Mm. Do you need any help around here?” Be upfront with your desires, time is of the essence.

>>4207543
>”Mm. Do you need any help around here?” Be upfront with your desires, time is of the essence.
Welcome back Cir, how's the homework?

>>4207543
>”Mm. Do you need any help around here?” Be upfront with your desires, time is of the essence.
>wanting to pick the polite option but realizing the most in-character option for Orion

Good afternoon, everyone! Had a busy morning, but it's time to get things started!

>>4207559
>>4207572
>>4207580
>>4207584
>>4208559
>>4208629
>>4208702
This goes through! Writing now.

>>4208629
Been busy with it all morning, actually! There's a lot of stuff to do since it's getting closer and closer to the end of the semester.

>>4208702
Gotta love Orion!

>>4208752

Admittedly, you’re too aware that you’re on the clock for you to engage this woman in polite conversation. Were it a simple game, maybe you would have, but every advantage you can acquire in the quickest amount of time is vital.

“Mm,” you reply with a non-committal tone, crossing your arms and shifting your weight from foot to foot, “do you need any help around here? I figure I might as well pay you back somewhat for the room on short notice.”

“You already paid in gold, though…” she murmurs to herself, a bit perturbed by your tone but apparently unwilling to call you out on it. “We don’t really have anything to do around the inn, per say, but I think the town watch is short a man? If you’re looking for cash quick – and you do seem like that type – go and pester them about it!”

“And where would I find them?”

“Well, there’s a building – actually, calling it a building is very generous – off at the edge of town. It’s pretty messed up because we don’t exactly have the resources to repair it. They kinda moved in there when they realized that nothing was gonna be done with the place!”

“You don’t sound too fond of them.” You can’t help but remark, the corner of your mouth quirking up in a smirk.

“The leader’s a fuckin’ asshole whenever he comes in the bar at night. Doesn’t know how to keep his hands to himself, and he broke a table the last time he was here, too!”

Wow, that guy sounds like a real piece of work. You make a mental note of that.

>”What exactly does the watch do? Are they the town police?”
>”…are you sure you don’t want me to go rough him up a bit?”
>”Understood, I’ll go there right away.”
>Write-in.