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⬣//SPREAD, CONTAMINATE, ERADICATE
You've had a chance to adapt to your new circumstances and make peace with what your life has become… hopefully. If you haven't, don't expect life to get any easier.
A few things have changed in recent days. Healing no longer works as effectively as it did in the past. If you're in the habit of behaving recklessly, don't expect one of Fragment's few healers to pick up the slack. Broken bones will now remain broken no matter how many healing spells are cast on your shattered limbs. Damage to organs can't be repaired with the wave of a wand.
What's more, HP and SP restoring items have gotten harder and harder to come by. Potions are no longer available for purchase at generic NPC shops and gatherable items needed for crafting have become fewer and fewer in number, limiting your item making options. If you've gotten into the bad habit of injuring yourself heedless of the consequences, it's time to rethink your lifestyle. Playtime is over.
Think of the three core memories that have formed and shaped the person you are today. Some will think back fondly on family and friends while others have been jaded by the ill treatment they've received from important figures in their lives. In any case, it's of little concern to you now. One of those three precious memories has vacated your mind, taking with it a vital piece of you that you can no longer get back.
You may choose one of the three key memories listed on your application to be taken away from your character. Choices are limited to the memories supplied in your application and additional memories submitted for the previous memshare event or not eligible for convenient plot-induced memory loss. Choose wisely, because you aren't getting it back.
And Sky Fish, and Disco Knives, and Evil Armors…
Has anyone noticed the monsters around town lately? Which town, you may ask? The answer is all of them.
Monsters have invaded Root Towns in large waves, attacking anything and everything in sight. Any lovingly crafted signs or other furnishings you've erected around town are easily torn to shreds and destroyed by the monsters who have come to roost in your once safe Root Towns. On the plus side, PvE and PvP has now been enabled in all Root Towns, which is excellent news for those who wish to combat the monster invasion and those who can't seem to help hurting themselves and others.
These monsters range in level from 50 to 75, and while many of them can be defeated with a bit of ingenuity and teamwork, some of them boast impenetrable shields that no regular attacks or spells can break through. They are also immune to status/potion/armor effects.
When in doubt, turn to your fellow players for support. There may be some among you who know how to deal with these impossibly strong monsters, but there's no guarantee that they'll want to help you.
A lilting, boyish voice sings to you in your sleep. His voice sounds familiar to you, tickling your heart like a call from an old friend, but this is no friend of yours.
"You had every chance to abandon this world and return to your own. What stopped you? Was it ego? Hubris? In any case, it's too late for regrets now.
They say the world is what you make of it. Doesn't the same hold true for reality?"
The voice will periodically visit you and your sleep, but the moral of his message never changes: you did this to yourself. You were trapped here because you chose to look the other way. If anyone is to blame for the current situation, it's you and you alone, but there is a̸̬̲͔̘͈͚̠̫̘̬̗̖̋͑̉̓̿͛̈́̋͐̃̾̈̕̕ͅń̵̩̱̠̫̖̬̲̻͉̝̈́̀̀̚͜͜o̴͍͎̣͔̤̝̲͍̺̿̒t̴̨͚͓͍̜̮̥͊͑̿̈́̉̂̐͜͠͝h̷̨̨̦͕͖̙̞͙̗̗͎̬͛̂̾̋̅͜͜͝ȩ̸͎̭̙̜̯͎̯̳̮̘̲͒ȑ̸̡̧̢͓̠̦͙͇͍͎̭͑̈́̓̿̓̅̑̅̌͑̈́̕͝͝ ̴̧̼͕̟̬̰̞̮̗͔͈̬̙͍̈́̀w̵̗̖̩̘͇͖̲̩̫̣̗̙̲̌͜a̷̛͎͋͑̃͛̆̈̋̑̋͠y̴̡̬͕͈̗̫̯̟̯͊͐̌̀̐͑͘͝͝.
Another h̶̦̘̤̘͐͑̿̂̏̎͋͝o̴̧͖͚̖̜͓͂̏́͒̑̈́͝͝p̶̡͙̏̉̿̎̀̑́̈̆͌̉e̷̡̡̦̣̯̘̺͍̟̰͍̤͛̀́̚͝͠. Will you heed that voice and call to it?
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That's basically what it comes down to, isn't it?!
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( Why is he being so stubborn then??? God if only Mithrun could stop being stubborn for once in his life, )
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[ Oria continues to have him in the chokehold. It's fine. He's still dragging him deeper into the root town. ]
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( Murderously fixed on his goal once he's set his sights on it - taking the most direct path possible.
Mithrun is tense and alert as Oria drags him deeper in, because he has no clue what his end game is here. He has to assume Oria is trying to take him somewhere in specific - killing him would be easier at Twilight Shoreline (strangling and drowning are faster than getting HP down to 0), and stopping at Naval Monte's Chaos Gate plaza would've been enough if Oria wanted to get off one of his skills in specific. So, why? )
What are you trying to do?
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[ Anyway, they finally arrive. It's a back alley of some sorts and Oria doesn't waste time shooting Mithrun with normal attack shot to invoke false death for 15 minutes. (No gunshot wound. Just the usual damage taken animation) ]
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He's gonna be pretty peeved when he wakes up, though. )
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If not, he'll leave Mithrun in the NPCs' care and he'll be safe from monsters too, since they don't attack NPCs... ]
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If Oria inspects the rose at his bad eye - covering what is normally a glass eye, like Mithrun has in real life - Oria will find that the rose actually grows out of the socket. Oria could try to remove it, but tugging at it feels like the roots go as deep into his brain as a genuine optic nerve might.
There doesn't seem to be anything else, item-wise, that Oria might find of note.
Of the body itself: The first thing Oria might notice because it's out in the open is this: Mithrun's current skin, Memories' Weight, features a sheer, pinstriped halterneck. While not as obvious while Mithrun is moving due to the pinstripes in the fabric, he may notice a thin, long line that runs along Mithrun's skin - along the full length of the sternum, if he's willing to peel it back to check. It's red at its centre and reddish along the edges on both sides, like some kind of healing - or growing - laceration.
With this image in his mind, he might notice the rest a little easier: his hands, which darken at the extremities, seem to have, likewise, these laceration-like lines, too; not along the length of his arms, but scattered along them, about the length of a thumb. Inspecting for these will also allow him to notice faint, dark veins - veins that look a little bit, almost, like a pattern of broken glass - forming along the darkened limbs, unsurprisingly near impossible to notice with the low contrast at any sort of distance, but visible enough this close, and with a desire to find something strange.
Oria will find this same effect along his legs, if he removes the stocking-boots: darkened at the tips of his feet and gradiating upward; the small lacerations along that darkness, and faint, dark veins running along them.
Pressing the lacerations or trying to split them doesn't produce any effect or tearing, and there's no effect from pressing the veins.
And while the literal clothes can be stripped off to whatever extent Oria might test, he'll find that doesn't actually remove the skin effects (or the ears and tail) - the darkness, veins, or false lacerations, which seems... weird? You know, like the skin effects should be associated with the armor, like hit MMORPG FFXIV 20 years from now. But it seems they're associated with the avatar, even though Mithrun most certainly had none of these before donning this skin for the first time at the meeting. )
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At first Oria was worried if this was special gear, but to see that it's actually a skin instead worries him a little, especially because there has been changes since he last saw it in the meeting. While people have been forgetting memories, it doesn't seem to have been as rapid as Mithrun's based on what he's heard and seen.
If the name of the skin rings true, then he could theorize that this skin is deteriorating Mithrun at a faster pace than everyone else. He knows that gear could have lasting effects even when unequipped with his own special gear, in which Oria gained a debilitating water weakness permanently even if he doesn't have it on, so when he tests it to the point of the unequipping threshold but not completely removing it off Mithrun, the marks are still there. It's as if he's rotting like his deteriorating memories.
But who would give this to him? And why would he accept it--No. It doesn't take long to think of Lily, because he's heard the tidbit during the meeting about Lily contacting Mithrun somehow. As for why? He wouldn't put it past Lily to be some sadistic brat from what he's heard about what happened to Hani too. He clicks his tongue and goes to observe Mithrun as a whole.
He looks like a doll and that unnerves him.
Looking at the choker, Oria recognizes that it's a little different, since he has one himself and can differentiate the make between a collar and a choker whether based on fashion statements or whatever other purpose they may serve. Mithrun's doesn't look like a normal choker at all. Like a collar. For a cat.
Oria sighs. What did Mithrun get himself into... He'll note to share his findings with Sinclair too, because if it were anyone else, Oria would have to go through being questioned of "why did you partially strip Mithrun" or "why did you kill him even if temporarily". At least Sinclair would understand him. Oria has no trouble looting a corpse nor investigating it even if they're his friend or for the "greater good" for the sake of his selfish justice.
After fixing Mithrun back up, he leaves his body with the Naval Monte's NPCs, who will take care of him. The monsters won't touch him either. Oria will no longer be around. ]