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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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Really, I was just running off on my caretakers all the time.
[A little brat, then and now. With the grasses snuffed out (and the nice grassy area half-charred), Matoba walks over to one of the roped rocks and lays a hand on it. Here, this was all just recreations. Data. There were no living spirits here.]
... I suppose. [There's a private smile to himself.] You didn't get any time for yourself?
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[ Whether that's a good or bad thing, it's probably both. ]
I sometimes tried to talk to my older sister, but I wasn't particularly liked by her either.
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[Matoba's head jerks up at once when Hien mentions his sister, a glance of surprise on his face, before it returns to glancing down at that rock again.]
[Ah.]
[That explains a lot, doesn't it?]
[The pragmatic side of him immediately recognizes; that's why Hien was relaxed after the interrogation. That's why he understood and accepted everything so immediately. There's a long pause as he grapples with that, as he tries to decide how he feels about it (irrelevant anyway; he should stick to thinking about what it meant for Hien's reactions..). His fingertips are still resting against that rock as he thinks for a few seconds, then lift away.]
I see. [A private smile has taken the place of the surprise, keeping his reaction lowkey.] I can't imagine why, if you weren't an obstacle.
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[ But at that point, he was used to being unwanted by the very people who brought him into the world, so her reaction didn't shock him. ]
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[He remembers his sister slapping him around that age, taking out her anger on him. Screaming at him about how lucky he was, how he was everyone's favorite...]
[She'd always wanted the power, and none of the responsibility that came with it.]
But I suppose things can be different when you're the elder.
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[ He looks up at the shrine. There aren't any offering boxes here. ]
I don't think she wanted me to try and understand her.
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[And because he thinks Hien asked him the same thing, once:]
Did you hate her?
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[ Hien says that without hesitation. ]
There's only one person I hate in this god forsaken world and it's not her.
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[Matoba turns back towards the next staircase towards the shrine building at the top... likely where the boss would be.]
And who is that?
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The first one who ever used me as an attack dog. Shitty bastard. Would have been nice if I killed him.
[ Despite saying that, there's no blatant hostility from Hien. Perhaps, this too, is something that he's forgetting. ]
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[It doesn't escape him, the many reasons that could be. In fact, it's pretty obvious, at least to him, but...]
[Matoba watches their poor pet Ganesha in a bubble float over, and still feels sort of bad for having to boot the little thing.]
[Oh well. PUNT. The sad lil elephant goes sailing back down the stone steps from whence it came, applying its buff to their stats for the next battle. Nice.]
Would you hate me too, Hien, if I used you? [He turns to smile to him.]
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[ He doesn't sound disappointed nor grumpy. It simply is what it is. ]
I wouldn't hate you. I said so.
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[Looking at it realistically... If he were to use Hien properly as a cleanup specialist, things would be quite different. The things he would be asking him to do...]
[But he smiles anyway. Might as well take his word for it, since that'll never happen.]
I'm glad. It probably wouldn't have worked out... Taking in a foreigner like you and placing you in a delicate role would stir up all kinds of uproar. But if you'd wanted to, I'm sure I could have found a way.
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Even if it's like that, just the fact that Matoba would do that for him makes him feel a little warm inside. People doing things for him continues to make Hien feel that he's wanted somewhere, and it's... nice. He's slowly accepting them.
Even if it's a what-if scenario despite his dislike for them.
Even if it's something that will never happen.
The sentiment is still nice. ]
It means a lot to me.
[ Perhaps he would have taken his hand and led him to the boss monster chamber, but he wonders...
Hien lowers himself for a moment to pick Matoba up bridal style. He's not doing this to be romantic, but he wants to see his reaction more than anything. ]
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[Then why are you doing this... Hien... Certainly, it throws him off for a moment, grasping onto a corner of Hien's cloak with another momentary blink of surprise, eye widened like a cat hooking its claws into your shirt as it's plucked up. And just the same as a cat, it takes him a moment to settle into it comfortably, although the expression he wears is still some amount of ruffled.]
... Do you feel compelled to serve, after all that? [It's somewhere between sarcasm and teasing, even though he's now trying to pass off his awkwardness as lordliness.]
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I wanted to see the look on your face. It's endearing to see you like this sometimes too.
[ He lightly taps his forehead against Matoba's before pulling away. Heheeee. Hien is very satisfied now. ]
Do you want to kill the boss monster like this or should I let you down?
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[But, being dissatisfied will only feed into Hien's troublemaking... So, he'll let it go with simply a grunt of acknowledgment as Hien's forehead leans to his.]
Do you think you can do damage like this? [Now the lofted eyebrow is really skeptical.] I believe in your brutality, Hien-kun, but I don't know about hands-free.
...Or are you asking me to do all the work this time?
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I can, but you probably wouldn't like that.
[ So instead, he'll lead Matoba to the boss chamber with the staff in his other hand. ]
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[Matoba gazes down at their linked hands as he's led along, a perplexed expression on his face at the joining. Such a strange expression of touch this is from a man like Hien- but he doesn't dislike it. He follows along as they approach the main shrine building, the treasure set at the altar in the back, and the front of the building crowded, guarded, by a gang of Thousand Trees. Unlike the sacred trees around the dungeon, these ones weren't spirits- just monsters.]
Are you going to smack the trees around? [Matoba jokes, detaching his hand to flip his grimoire and cast pillars of flames under the trees with a GiVak Rom.]
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[ Honestly? Wouldn't put it past Hien. Before he goes to do his thing, he casts SP regen, physical defense buff and a speed buff to Matoba and himself. Speed buffs are pretty handy, as seen with how Hien zips all the way to where the Thousand Trees are and bludgeons them to the clock end of the staff. Perhaps it's the difference of levels, but he's just tearing through the bark of the trees like they're nothing... ]
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[It's a good time. They have fun.]
Is this what they call 'barking up the wrong tree' in English, I think...? [His fingers drift in the air with another spell blasting the trees that go scrambling to get away from Hien again.]
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He's kinda like a dog coming back to its master... ]
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[Matoba's got some nicks and cuts here and there from the trees' sharp leaves and branches, maybe, but for the most part he's doing just fine. The top-up is still appreciated... so Matoba leans up to press his lips into Hien's.] For a job well-done.
Let's collect our spoils and ... Well, why bother going back? Might as well stay a while.
[He glances around at their surroundings- even if a little bit of them are kind of... on fire now. He'll just cast a quick GiRue Kruz to extinguish some of it.]
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Hien feels pretty great about it, even if it doesn't really show on his face. He looks over at the surroundings, watching Matoba extinguish the fire. ]
What kind of chair do you want? A table too.
[ Admin privileges are strong... ]
Or if you feel like you want to camp out here [ lol ], I can set up something like a campsite too.
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[Matoba stretches out with a pleased smile on his lips and sits himself on the stone steps for the time being, looking back down over the tops of the dungeon trees and the meadows below. Even if it was all fake, it looked nice... and the fake afternoon sun in the sky was starting to get lower. They'd have a nice smattering of stars overhead if they stayed into the shift to night.]
How about... one of those big standing tents? The tall ones that have enough room to put a little cardtable and folding chairs into, besides the bedrolls.
[Chin propped in his hands, he turns to grin at Hien.] Have you ever grilled over a charcoal fire?
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