altimit | (no subject)

It wouldn’t kill you too.

[At least the sharks have saved him from being asked invasive questions from a man who would definitely be way too glad to take someone’s virginity.

Or that’s at least the vibe Owen gets. He seems like that kind of creep.

He had to weigh his options though - either he does what Matoba wants, or he ignores his request. Or the secret third option, which is what Owen settles on. He’ll debuffs the sharks now, but later? He’ll make him beg one way or the other.]

Try not to use up all of your SP, Okoto.

No, it wouldn't, [Matoba agrees, able to dodge one of the sharks' spinning attacks thanks to the debuff (his thanks are silent!), and pinging it from behind with a powerful spell. These things, like him, are high attack and high speed... Wow, it's like fighting a mirror.]

But I'm not one for cheap, unearned platitudes.

[It is a little bit of a problem, isn't it? As the only attacking unit, if he runs out of SP, they're both screwed. Somehow though, he thinks Owen would be fine with that. Oh, well. He'll just save his last shots for his stupid face, then.]

I brought a few heals, but it would be nice if you could try being useful for a change? Those fans can do something other than flutter about, surely. [Pings another shark with fire.]

You're such a team player.

[He sighs, skipping back to avoid the shark's aggro. He doesn't want to pull attention to himself, but he raises one of arms, in a gesture reminiscent of fourth position in ballet, and flutters his lashes.]

I'm a dancer, Okoto. The fans are just for show.

[They're not, but it's the principal of the thing and he just wants to be annoying. But he supposed he can cast La Corma, to give Matoba that bit of damage boost.

Maybe he should take a hit or two, though. Just for fun.]

[Matoba, raising his eyebrow, spares Owen a withering glance. He's pretty sure Owen's P.Attack is higher than his.]

Yes, such a pretty dance. [But the buff is good. He takes advantage of it right away, and crisps the last two sharks to clear their way with another spell.]

[Still a few levels of this dungeon to go. Hopefully, he can conserve that SP...]

We ought to begin finding chests soon, so at least keep your eyes peeled for loot if you aren't going to do much else.

[...There's a weird sound from around the corner...]

[Owen has Four Whole Skills, okay, things have been adjusted. Normal attacks will only take them so far...]

I've worked hard to be able to dance this well, you know.

[Is that true or not... Who knows.

But... hm. As much as he wants to see Matoba die horrifically, he'd rather it happen after they find the quest item.]

...Okoto. Do you hear that?

[He is not soloing this dungeon if Matoba bites it, so he better be on guard. Owen is bracing himself for another fight - if this is like all the usual dungeons, this should be the last group of enemies. It's always just three varieties, but it's a special dungeon...

So maybe it'll be something out of the norm? Unlikely, though, for the quality of this game.]

Don't die on me just yet.

Have you? [He wants to make a pole joke here, but- well, that cute little ballet says something else. Does Owen-kun have arts training? A little surprising, a little endearing. Though, no wonder he works two jobs (dohoho... haha.. oh.. sad...)]

[Likewise, he can't just PK Owen if he still needs him to fight a boss!! So they're just going to have to continue onward- but Matoba stops short at Owen's warning, tilting his head.]

[Was that... slithering? Some kind of serpant, maybe?? Matoba readies another spell, waiting for their quarry to turn the corner, but--!]

... Eh?

[It's a... worm? Matoba blinks down as he targets the pathetic little creature zooming along the dungeon walls towards them, trying to figure out just what they're meant to do with it. There's no typical battle prompts for this thing, just a prompt to......]

[ "Kick It"?? ]

[It's dancing around in circles in front of them, doing figure-eights and not running away, so....]

[...]

[Matoba steps right up, and in true yakuza fashion, heel-curbstomps the poor thing into the meaty, fleshy floor. ~~So they are both into this.~~]

[Cha-ching! Gold pops out.] ....Ah. What a strange dungeon event.

[Imagining living in a world where the arts are supported…

Anyways.

Owen watches the worm approach, staying quiet until the coins have exploded and he gets the notification of 1,000 GP being added to his wallet, beyond the maximum he’s been sitting on for a while.]

…Well.

[That was… underwhelming? Though seeing the viciousness in which Matoba stomped that worm is interesting.]

Seems like you have some experience with that.

[You like stepping on worms, Okoto. Is that what you’re into?

But also, where’s the last pack of monsters? Owen’s still on edge, even if he’s very curious about that brutality.]

Hm? Oh. A little.

[He means the curbstomping, not the... Nevermind. Owen wouldn't believe him if he corrected him, anyway.]

[He smiles back at him though, gesturing towards the last unexplored corner of the dungeon.]

There should be a reward or something up this way, right? Let's beat the boss monsters.

[Prepare to be underwhelmed, boys; the last set of monsters are mere Sky Fish, fluttering in the deepest bowels of the flesh dungeon. But hey, behind them is the sight of some chests....]

This should be a piece of cake, [Matoba comments, lining up a Wood AoE spell to take care of the neutral-element monsters.]

["A little". Yeah, sure, okay. Just a "little".]

The GP from that worm not a big enough reward for you? But there should at least be that stupid book we need to bring back.

[You know, the whole reason they're in this dungeon. The quest. They need to get the quest items.

He's disappointed when he sees the Sky Fish, hoping the last fight would be a bit more climactic then just some neutral enemies that he's sure Matoba will turn into a crisp in an instant.

Still, Owen is still sort of playing along, readying another cast of La Corma to buff their magic output.]

It would be embarrassing if you died now.

[god but he hopes he does...]

[Wow Owen do you want to be dommed???]

That's right, that book for Hien-kun......... Well, it was only 1k, though. [Chump change!! ...Just how much GP does Matoba have?] But then again, I wonder how many times this dungeon can be rerun? An event dungeon with a guaranteed gold drop is pretty nice, even if it's limited to once per day, or something like that.

Might be worth coming back. Without you.

[The poor feesh are done away with between the buff and Matoba's queued spells, an anticlimactic ending for the dungeon. Oh, well- the spawns were randomized, probably? Maybe he ought to send some feedback about guaranteeing the toughest spawns at the end of an event dungeon......]

[That's right, so now the prizes should be just ahead of them. Sure enough, a chest lies in wait. What will be their reward.........!?]

[He would rather die then let someone dom him.]

I don't know if it's a lot or not when there's nowhere to spend it.

[No in-game shops just yet... Maybe it'll make them super rich! Probably not, but you never know!

Anyways, time to open the chest and grab this book. Only gives it only a cursory glance, reading the blurb to see there's something about like... sworn brothers and drama and things he doesn't care about, and then holds it out to Matoba.]

This might be very informative for you, Okoto.

I suppose so. Ah, the crane games in Lumina Cloth are quite fun, though! Have you not played them?

[Matoba glances at the book that Owen pulls out, and realized upon being handed it that-- ah. Yes, this feels right. He pulls up the menu for his grimoire selection and.....]

[Equips it!! No more tattooed human skin blood tome, yay!]

Oya, oya.... This is quite the fun little item, isn't it? [He flips through the newly-skinned skin tome, glancing through the text on the pages.... Wow, there seems to be some saucy content in here.......]

Shall I read it for you before I return to deliver it to Hien-kun? A little preview. I'm told my narrating voice can be very soothing. [Suwabe fuck,]

Haven't had the time.

[Which is true, in a sense? He doesn't spend a lot of his time in Fragment on the idle distractions, because he has too much he wants to (or has to) do in the real world. He's not some shut in like most of the playerbase!]

But maybe I'll try them out, if I run out of more entertaining things to do.

[How can he waste his time on crane games when he has people to harass?

Matoba, please. They need to turn that in, you can't just steal it for yourself!]

I'll pass.

[He doesn't want to admit Matoba has a nice voice, so he will just ignore that "soothing" comment.]

Struggling with grinding? Tsk, don't go falling behind...

[Or do, actually. Maybe then he can get ahead of you, so he can bully you in PVP. Matoba raises an eyebrow at one of the pages he finds while reading through, turning pages, before finally tearing his attention away again.]

Suit yourself! [He shuts his grimoire again with a snap. They can turn it innnnn, but the skin is his prize!! He's going to keep it to read later. Seems spicy and fun.] Shall we complete the dungeon and turn in the quest?

[(How long will it take Matoba to finally get to read this to Hien??? We may yet see..........)]

I wouldn't say it's grinding I'm struggling with...

[Even if this is before he desecrated the guild hall. Probably. The timeline is fuzzy.]

Let's get this over with. You want to get the rewards and go off and have your sad, perverse fun, don't you?

[And Owen just wants to log off and go take his dogs for a walk. They're way better company.]

[Can't believe you made cultist grunty watch with its own eyes (also having just looked at the dungeon run again, probably way before but who's counting)]

I do! Thanks for asking. Are you going to go talk to more perverts on the internet for money?

[Some of them might even be Matoba!!]

[Not me, that’s who.]

Why do you want to know? Do you want to be one of the perverts I talk to, Okoto?

Not in the slightest.

[He doesn't want to be. But unfortunately, Matoba has to do a great many things he would rather not. That's the responsibility of retaining power, of being a leader, after all.]

It's been fun, Owen-kun. Let's get out of here.

[Doubt…

Matoba, stop lying to yourself. It’s pathetic.]

Fun? Well, I suppose it wasn’t as agonizing as talking to you usually is.

[A fruity little wave.]

See you around, Okoto.

[ A few days later, the two of them will receive a message from their inbox from an "Anonymous", encouraging them to go investigate an Area with the keywords Θ Hidden Forbidden Hades.

Will they go? ]

[Of course they're going, Owen isn't a coward.]

[also replying here in case you need the confirmation but HELL YEAH let's go to HELL]

[ By inputting the keywords, Owen and Matoba will find themselves in Indieglut Lugh (aka hell tree), particularly its lake. The two will warp in and find themselves underwater in the lake with no warning, where they will feel a pull that leads them deeper inside... ]

[Can they... breathe...? Wuh-oh.]

[Matoba glances up with a squint at the light funneling in from the tree and above them, although the deep darkness is quickly swallowing that all up. Under the water, he's a swirling mass of hair and robes.]

[Bubble bubble. If he can talk under here,]

--Oh, this is--

[So there was something else here!! He knew he'd felt that pull. Hien you lying bastard. (..Haha, how embarrassing, he thinks after a moment. He hopes nothing is in here to have seen all that!)]

[Well, at least Owen doesn't recognize the tree. He's never felt much need to go investigate the weird places everyone talks about, so hell tree? Who cares?

The worst part is he's stuck here with Matoba, but he just shoots him a look. Logic would dictate they should swim towards the surface, but seeing as there is that odd pull downwards and it's all very spooky and mysterious...

Owen starts swimming down, fully ready to just leave Matoba behind.]

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wow I thought I sent this last night

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