altimit | (no subject)

Entry tags:

dungeon

(no subject)

Who 🍰 owen & frenemies
What 🍬 area explores, depressing conversations, quests???
When 🍭 August
Where 🍫 Lumina Cloth, et cetera
Content Warnings 🥧 Owen, discussions of suicide/suicidial ideation, violence & death, potentially other things that will be updated as needed.

Wildcard me! This will also be where I put open prompts, should I write any unrelated to the event. I might also add more top levels in the body! Hooray! Feel free to hit me on the plotting post, or on discord and plurk, both

revelries.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I’m just covering my bases.

[Sorry that he doesn’t trust Michel as far as he can throw him! Even if they’re party members that doesn’t mean Michel will do his job, as far as Owen knows.

Trust no one. Not even yourself.]

Do you want me to buff you or not?

I certainly didn't send the party request just to put on a show for you...

[ Buffs are what Macabre Dancers do, right? Although Winter lets out the deepest sigh when he spots the telltale cloud of bee commandos on the horizon as they approach. ]

Why is it always bees?

Well, it’s not like we’re outside of the first level range yet.

[There’s a limited enemy pool, probably.

Owen raises his fans, casting La Corv to give Michel a little boost for this first engagement.]

You’re not allergic, are you?

No. [ He doesn't think... ] There's no way they'd open themselves up to problems by replicating that in a game, anyway.

[ But thanks for the nightmare fuel in addition to the buff, Owen?? Michel sighs as he lunges in with an Ogre Sword. At least he can multi-target now... ]

I was just hoping for a little more variety in the dungeons already.

You'd hope so, anyways.

[Go, Michel, go! Owen will just be your backup dancer as you take on the bees!]

Maybe next patch they'll spice things up! It hasn't even been that long yet.

[ SO DRYLY: ]

Or it could be bee recolors.

[ But Owen has a point, and Winter is just being his customarily Eeyore self. Having a cheerleader is motivating, though. Or it's the strength boost buff, either-or. ]

It would keep the budget lower.

[Just saying. Every developer is a cheapskate.

He’ll keep the buff up, though, as well as casting Dek Do a few times to slow down their buzzing bothers.]

Of courses. It's only a beta.

[ It turns out? Running a dungeon with someone else at cap is pretty convenient. Winter tosses a brief reassessing look Owen's way for that move. The underpowered little bees don't have much time to land hits before they're obliterated, with the status effect on. ]

...You're not bad.

Were you expecting me to half-ass this? I’m insulted.

[Owen might be Shithead Supreme, but he’s not about to be bad at something if he can help it!]

I think the rest of the fights will be just as easy.

It was one possibility.

[ Look: there are two types of support class players. The ones that are competent and good at what they do, and ones who want to act cutely to be carried. But Michel attempts to convey all of that with a brief shrug rather than words. ]

Likely. Whatever everyone was making a fuss over on the forum must be at the end.

[ also fine handwaving some intervening fights to counterbalance how slow I've been I'M SORRY :crymeow: ]

[shhhh it's okay, holds your head!! we can just skip to the family jewels obviously--]

It's probably whatever "prize" we get at the end. That's always where the strangest things in this dungeon are.

[Some weird shit happens when you open chests or run into goblins and animals... Knowing that means Owen is on the look out for any conspicuous chests, curiosity a powerful motivator to him.]

Do you have any ideas?

[ THE IMPORTANT PART—

Michel gives a little grimace as he recalls his first dungeon run. Stupid grunty "blessing"... ]

I've seen one negative effect and one beneficial one. Based on that... a debuff or a status effect of some kind. It could be a simple stat penalty. Or something irritating, like reversing the control input.

[ Maybe Michel spends too much time being a blight on the people unfortunate enough to download his games if that comes to him so easily. ]

What do you think?

I think it's probably a debuff - there was that one that infected all of the NPCs, so I know some of them get quite nasty.

[Fandaniel really started the game with a bang.]

For something that people are so traumatized by, it has to be especially horrible. Maybe we'll just instantly die?

[He sees a chest at the end of a long hall, and he starts to head towards it. He needs to see if this one is trapped...]

[ Oh, yeah. That bug. That prick. ]

Quite a batch of beta testers they happened to pick...

[ Well, he can't say the man isn't doing his job. Winter follows, drawing his sword to prepare to jab the chest if it turns out to be a mimic. Or if it's a trap, at least he'll die with his sword out like a man. ]

That would be a little overkill just for death. How long could the respawn time possibly be?

[Fandaniel's not that bad. He's charming!]

They got what they deserved.

[Owen's not worried about mimics, figuring if there were any mimics in this Area they'd have seen one by now, so he crouches in front of the treasure chest with his fans tucked away in his inventory.]

By default, the respawn timer is twenty minutes.

[Clearly he has first hand experience...

Owen puts his hand on the lid of the chest, looking back at Michel.]

Come here, I want you to be in the radius if this chest is trapped.

[He's not going down by himself! And he won't open it until Michel gets closer, but once he does... What's the worst that could happen?]

[ This speaking sidelong look says "you've been getting killed already?!" But, between PKers and some of the monsters and Macabre Dancer's flimsy build, it's not that surprising. ]

...Long, actually. They didn't expect us to die often.

[ Also, why is he getting dragged into this? Michel sheathes his sword and rolls his eyes before he steps closer. If it were a mimic, it would have already bitten that hand off. ]

And ensure we fail the dungeon? You enjoy wasting your time.

[ But his motivation in humoring Owen is revealed when he cranes to peer curiously into the chest as he finally opens it. Empty? Maybe this really was all a prank... ]

And yet the game is filled with murderers.

[It’s been mostly PK deaths, honestly. They probably weren’t anticipating getting this many unhinged bastards in the beta.

He leans in closer to stare down into the empty chest, frowning. He doesn’t feel any pain, so what’s the trap?]

Well, that’s disappoi—

[And then his armor explodes, leaving him completely naked.]</small< …

There's something odd about players being so eager to PK in VR...

[ His thoughts on the discomfiting realism are interrupted rudely by the explosion. Rather than the chest they were here to find, he's staring across at quite a different chest. And... Owen's everything else.

Hopefully Owen has the censorship settings turned on. Winter definitely does, which he's reaffirming for himself promptly with a panicked look down. ]

...

[This is..................

Well.

It's kind of underwhelming, honestly? Owen has the maturity toggle on, at the moment, so there's not much to see, but - this doesn't seem all that bad? Like, sure, some people would probably be horrendously embarrassed by the exposure, and he's not happy that he's now entirely naked in front of someone he barely knows, but still.

He straightens up, taking a deep breath before he loses his temper.]

...I can't believe this is what everyone was kicking up a fuss about.

[ This is certainly something. After that initial flicker of surprise, Winter — habitually deadpan as he is — is looking even more frozen than usual as he decides how to take this.

It is, after all, just an avatar. It's just the two of them. And he's not the only one suffering. All of that is mitigating... maybe? Hm.

He crosses his arms over his pixelated chest and, despite himself, sneaks a curious look over at Owen again at last. ]

Well. [ Well! ] ...It's less inconvenient than death. [ Maybe. ]

[Why did it turn out like this…

Winter might be hoping he had died instead when Owen shoots him a look, eyes narrowed. Being naked in person is a much different beast then taking pictures of himself, because at least then he can choose how much is shown.

The pixels don’t hide much.]

Are you checking me out?

[Sir? Are you being a creep?]

Am I...

[ Is he being a creep??

Winter turns his head away quickly, fast enough to send that whole curtain of hair swirling around him. And then he turns his back to Owen for good measure. He's not peeking back yet. But the tips of his ears might be turning a little red. ]

I-It was nothing of the sort! I was looking at how you designed your avatar.

[ ~~striving for his life to stay one step ahead of "obese rat" tier explanations~~ ]

Designed… This is largely just what I look like.

[He doesn’t actually have pink and yellow eyes in real life, surprisingly.]

I didn’t feel much need to change around my body.

[Wow, he feels… super uncomfortable, which is weird.]

I wasn’t expecting to be so exposed, after all.

[ Why would Owen just tell him that of all things? It would be incredibly easy, at this juncture, to say that it really was nothing... Michel almost casts a flustered look over his shoulder, but catches himself before he turns again. ]

This is the kind of situation where it's perfectly acceptable to lie!

[ He's not volunteering how much of his own avatar is simply him or not. The wave markings on his shoulders probably are not. The rest, questionable. ]

[It doesn’t occur to him to lie! It’s not like Winter’s going to see him in person, and his other online activities would be hard to tie to him… So what’s the point!! And it’s not like he can see anything that hasn’t already gotten Owen some money…

Maybe he should charge Winter, actually.]

What? Why would I?

[Is there something wrong with how he looks!! Huh!!]