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⬣//JUST AS A SEED TAKES ROOT.
A team of four courageous adventurers managed to unearth a secret Area unique from the others: the Hulle Granz Cathedral. Unlike other Areas, this one is lacking all the usual monsters, dungeons, and treasure. What might the purpose of this Area be, then...?
Well, if you’re feeling penitent or perhaps wish to hold a sermon of your own, head to Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground and knock yourself out. What? Too soon?
Anyway, be not afraid! The cathedral is perfectly safe. Following Ganymede’s little incident in the cathedral, a timely email has been sent out to beta testers regarding health and safety that reads as follows:
To our beta team,
Please exercise caution when playing video games for extended periods of time. Take breaks every thirty minutes and do not sit in the same position for more than two hours at a time. Remember to stay hydrated and play in a well-lit environment.
Failing to take care of your health while gaming can result in a litany of health complications, including but not limited to eye strain, muscle fatigue, headaches, dizziness, and involuntary loss of consciousness and motor functions.
We take the health and safety of our beta testers very seriously. If you have any concerns, please contact us at cccorp.ccmail.com.
Thank you for your continued efforts,
CyberConnect Corporation of Japan.
Guilds have been patched into the current version of Fragment and are now available for players to create their own and join others. While some guilds have opted to go the private route, others are in need of players to fill their ranks!
The admins have kindly supplied those recruiting for their shiny new guilds with a number of goodies to aid in their player gathering efforts:⬣ A bundle of personalized flyers proudly displaying their guild logo and a description of the guild’s @ home and available amenities.
⬣ Party poppers and streamers. Nothing screams “join my guild!” like a face full of glitter, confetti, and colorful strips of ribbon.
⬣ A megaphone that lets your voice echo far and wide, even across Root Towns and Areas, but with great potential for abuse comes restrictions! The megaphone can only be used five times before it breaks. Use it wisely!
⬣ A unique recipe for a cocktail, latte, tea, or other type of beverage that can be blended up and served in little sample cups to court potential members. These drinks are unique to their guilds and, when consumed, have a special effect that reflects the leader of that guild. Is your guild leader a pretty cheerful guy? Drinking their special brew will make you feel happy too!
Whatever effect your guild’s drink has is up to the leader’s discretion, but if you so desire, drop a comment under the questions top level and we’ll brew one up for you.
Additionally, you may host a guild open house and invite potential guildies into your @ home to let them take a look around! Guild @ homes are typically locked to guild members & their guests only, so use this as your opportunity to put your best foot forward and impress the world with everything your guild has to offer.
Also arriving with the newest update are mountable Grunties! Aren’t they cute? ...Well, they’re someone’s definition of cute.
While the ability to ride around town and in Areas at 2x speed is certainly alluring, you can’t just walk up to the Grunty Ranch located in each Root Town and take one out for a stroll. If you want a mount of your very own, you’ve got to commit! Becoming a proud Grunty owner means you must first become a proud Grunty parent, and to do that, you’ll need to raise your Grunty from infancy into adulthood.
Just what kind of adult might your Grunty become? That depends on how you raise them and what you feed them. Those strange "foods" popping up all over Areas might not taste good to you, but they sure do to Grunties!
For more information on how to acquire a baby Grunty of your very own and raise it into a proper — or not so proper — member of Grunty society, head on over to the Grunty Ranch.
Mac Anu, the City of Twilight known for its gentle ocean breezes, has been uncharacteristically warm lately. Very, very warm. Its usual orange skies have been swapped out for vivid blues, the sun dwelling high in the sky and threatening to burn everything in its wake.
It won’t take much wandering to feel the effects of heat exhaustion sink in, and even after you log out for the day, those symptoms seem to linger. Do Hien and Zelkova know what the hell is going on? Of course not. Unusual occurrences are slowly becoming the norm in Fragment, it seems, but the point of a beta test is to work out any kinks. Report it and move on.
Lumina Cloth is similarly affected by unusual weather phenomena, but it’s much more pleasant and hospitable than poor Mac Anu. The sun hangs just above the horizon, bathing the strip in early evening light. It’s much cooler here too, and what’s more, it appears that a carnival has rolled into town. What fun!
All the usual carnival fare is here: greasy fried foods, drinks served in foot long glasses, and a litany of carnival games that are totally not rigged. Entry is free and so are the prizes, but some of them take a bit of legwork to win.
⬣ Successfully PK another player to win the carnival exclusive Thursday The 12th™ skin. PK’d players will receive an appropriately spooky ghost skin of their own!
⬣ Step on up to the dunk tank and get dunked on to win a sexy swimsuit skin! Both the dunkers and the dunkees will win this skin, but only those who successfully dunk the player in the tank will be rewarded with the chance to show off some skin. The appearance this skin takes is dependent on the player wearing it, so have fun and get creative with it!
⬣ Take a trip through the hall of mirrors with a friend and do some reflecting! Stare too long into the mirrors and you might recall a memory that doesn’t belong to you, but to the person venturing through the hall of mirrors with you. Did that really happen? Surely it’s all in your head. Memories available for memshare are limited to the ones listed on your application.
Additional rewards include giant plush monsters that can be used to decorate guild @ homes and private rooms (limit one per player!) and a pet goldfish that, unfortunately, will die a hero’s tragic death within a week. Womp womp.
We’ve had a busy week! It seems like there was a glitch that allowed players to equip other players as weapons, which resulted in a ten player chain, wielded by none other than our hardworking head administrator, Hien! I’ll have a talk with him about not doing this kind of thing in the future, I promise!
That wasn’t all, though. An unknown entity reached out to the players participating in the ten-player chain and issued them a special title: Good Friends Stick Together. Fragment’s not supposed to have titles. Well, at least not in the beta. But you can go ahead and add it to your name if you want to anyway, and it shouldn’t cause any problems! We still can’t pinpoint who sent those messages and how they overrode the permissions to create those titles in the first place, but... Hmm. I don’t want to start any rumors, so I’ll keep looking into it.
There are those armor sets too, which I didn’t know had been handed out to those of you that reached level 25. Oria brought it to our attention, thankfully! There’s not a whole lot we can do about it now, but we know that some of them are pretty invasive. But knowing is half the battle, right?
Our friend Ganymede suffered an accident recently that had him lying unconscious in the hospital for about a day. He seems to be feeling better now, thankfully. Ḩ̵̲̼͆̃͐̆ò̸̧̰͕̥̈́͒̕͜p̷̫͙̯͇̾̄͜ę̸̹̒f̷̠̭͉̱̅͘ǘ̴͎̙̥̭̈́̈́l̵͇̙͍̳̜̇̓̒l̷̬̲̀̆̈̅̂ͅỳ̵̧̻̖ ̷̠̫̭̰̦̋͗h̴̰͕̑͗e̸̦̼͇̾͘ ̴̡̢̝̺̳̊̎̎̔p̴̳̠̼̜͔̂̅̐à̵͕̹̟ͅỹ̴̡̛͝s̶͉̕ ̴̢͕̬̑̆̕͝b̸̹̲͗͒̊͑͠ē̶̛͖͠ṯ̸̻̺́͒͐t̶̻͕͎̑ĕ̶̖̀͗͛͋r̷͙̗̙̲͙̓̚͝ ̷̻̠͉̈́̚a̷̡̙̳̽́̀̋̔ẗ̴̢̨̛̬̺t̴͖̳͝ē̷͇̆͆̍̚ͅn̵̪̜͉͊̉̔̄͐t̵͕̼͈̓͋̈́̕î̷̬o̸͇̐͋͑͌n̶̟̫̟̽̑͒͐͘ ̷̜̈́̈̀̂̎t̶͙̂͛ô̸̠̜ ̶̫͎̎h̶͖̳͛i̸̗͖̖̅̂͆̄͛s̸͔̈́̇̍ ̸̩̗̻̕s̵̬̼̳̲̞͝ù̸̞̺̣͙̾͒͛ŗ̴̻̟̻̭̂̈́r̶̡͈̲̣̣͋̊͗̕o̶̥̝̮̓ų̴̻̯̬̊̑̑͌̉ͅn̶̢̙̦͔͖̈̒͝d̷̰̼̤̥̃̿͒̌̎i̸̯͑̾͊̑͝n̵̦͐g̸̪̾͝͝s̷̛̝͙̣̹̍͛͝ ̸͔̲̠̩͗̓̀͘a̷̛̼̓̈́͊ṅ̵̥͆̎ḑ̶̨̯̱͍̇ ̷̛̗̮̀̆ḧ̴̼̪́͗͝i̵͓̬̤͂͐͒s̶̮̎̿̃ ̴̛͔̋͗̽h̷̝͑ͅē̴̱ȃ̵̝͎ͅļ̷͍̀͐͊̊̽ẗ̸̼̺̟̥̼́̄͛h̶̥̹̬̮̽̅ ̷̟̖̮͛́̿t̸̢̤̤̂͒͋̍o̶̼̟̓ ̵̥̳͙̖̆̈́ả̶̛̳̱͙̖̩̿̽͘v̴͈͉͖͊͘ỏ̶̤͚̅͑͝i̴̱͈̩̳̳̿̇̕͠ḏ̵͙̮͗͆ ̶̯̭̝̹̯͊s̸͍̰͔̔̀͋͋̐u̷̟̠͑̔̏̚c̵̨͖͉͇̀͆͘ͅh̴̨̓͌̄̈ ̶̧̱̻̼̏̃̃i̷̱͉͈̿̎̋͒͜͝n̴̢͓͍̂͝͠c̷̢̢̛̹͚̑̓̅ͅi̶͕̟̻̘̫̾͌d̶͉͉̏̇e̵͉̱̩̯̤͐̎̉̾n̸̡̠̈͜ţ̴̇͑̈́͘s̵̩̼͔̙̙̉͘ ̵̮̯̞̮̾̈́͋̔̈h̵̡̗͉͉͈̉̐̅̚ȁ̵͖͚̖̾p̸̰̬͖̩̀̈́̆̓p̶̢̛̼̈́͆̒͘ͅe̷̟̘̩̲̻̾̊n̵̨̩̜̟͆͘i̵̙͉̺̮͠ͅṋ̷̆ġ̶͙͚ ̴̩̋à̷̄̑̂͝ͅǧ̵͖̜͍͕̒̑͒a̷̧̛̞͐̃̈́͘i̷̯͉̬̯̽̍n̷̘̝͓̽̅̕!̵̩͑
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He tenses up with the hug, but gradually relaxes. For all his flirting and such, it looks like he's not very used to hugs. But this one time, before Sinclair has a chance of saying anything else, Oria pulls him closer into the hug and wraps his arms around him tightly.
"Someone should have", huh.
If Oria had any tears left to cry, perhaps he'd cry right now. However, he ran out of them many years back. ]
You're so good to me.
[ He tilts his head a little so that it rests against the side of Sinclair's head. His voice also gets quieter and more gentle when he says the next thing: ]
Thanks, Emil.
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Oria deserved a lot more than this, after all.
But his only response is to hold Oria tighter in response. Maybe he can cry enough for both of them, if Oria can't. He doesn't do much more than nod and hold Oria close, for as long as Oria wants to be held]
Mm.
[ He'll let go when Oria is ready.]
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But it also makes him a little wary about bringing up the things he saw. So instead, when Oria slowly let's go and gently pulls himself back, he ruffles Sinclair's hair. ]
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[Sinclair makes an indignant noise when Oria ruffles his hair and reaches up to try to smooth it back down. Unfortunately, it's as fluffy as ever, even as long as it is in Fragment.
He takes a deep breath, rubbing his cheeks one last time and he glances around. The mirrors were normal again, strange silly distortions that hadn't had a glimpse of anything else lurking behind]
...we should get out of here. Do you think a guild will let us cool off in their HQ?
[ He hasn't forgotten that Oria had seen a memory of his. But Oria seemed to be hesitant.]
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[ Oria takes that time to stand from the ground and holds his hands out to Sinclair to help him up. ]
Let's go.
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[Sinclair smiles and takes Oria's hand. Up they get and out of the maze of creepy mirrors]
Mm.
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This place is so huge! Why though? It might as well be another root town!
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Maybe they're preparing for more players when the game opens to the public. Still...I don't understand how space works here.
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[ When Sinclair comes back with the takoyaki and fried octopus, Oria's eyes glisten. He remembered!! And it smells so good!! Food!!!!!!!!! ]
So this is what guild spaces are like, huh? I actually dropped by Fai's Fine Wine guild the other day! It was so classy and there are all kinds of drinks served there too.
[ Oria proceeds to gracefully(no) flop onto the tatami and rolls. He loves the AC here. ]
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Oh, so you managed to get in that guild after all?
[Sinclair does sit down a little more gracefully because well learned manners are hard to shake]
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No, he just invited me to look around because he owed me. You gotta be 25 or older to join, and I'm not that old yet.
[ He plucks a takoyaki and plops it into his mouth after lying down on the side. Yes, the insides are supposed to be super hot when fresh, but Oria doesn't seem to care about that anyway. Nom. ]
But I get it, since older adults usually don't have time to play games like this very much, so a small community would be nice for them.
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[Not that he wants to be in guild like that. It was too...something. He gets enough of that at work. The problems with being the workplace's Only Technically Teenage worker. Ugh. Sinclair takes a few more careful bites. With the heat following them outside of the game, he definitely doesn't want to burn his mouth here]
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Yeah.
[ After eating another takoyaki, Oria lies down on his back. He stares at the ceiling for a while, trying to figure out how to word it. Sinclair is someone with Anxiety, and Oria knows how hard it is to deal with that.
But at the same time, does that mean he thinks Sinclair isn't strong enough? He wouldn't say that, and it was just like how he tried to protect him from bringing up family the other day. But this topic is much more direct. He felt that fear, and knowing she was the core of the problem to this, it's...
... ]
Hey.
[ He turns his head to look at Sinclair. ]
I want us to talk about something. I saw something in the hall of mirrors too, but I know it'll be tough on you. You have the right to refuse. Think of yourself first.
[ That said. ]
I... want to talk about those two: Kromer and Demian.
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I...
[He tightens his grip on his cup. But it's not the second name that scares him. It's the first one. And the instinct is to block it out. Run away.
He's tired of running away]
...what did you want to know?
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She said that you owed her something. Did something happen with that?
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...It was maybe a few months before. That. I...I was in trouble. They were going to expel me for plagiarising my engineering project, but I hadn't-
[It hadn't been him]
I shouldn't have shared my plans before submitting it. It was stupid. I didn't want my parents to find out either.
[He lets out a little huff]
...she helped me then.
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[ The hell. That's so messed up. Oria already feels a little mad about it from that alone. ]
And then she... made you indebted to her.
[ He frowns. ]
... What did she want?
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She wanted to access my dad's basement. Where his lab and files are.
[Sinclair shakes his head, trembling a little]
It was my fault. If I had just kept my mouth shut about the deal he had won with Kayser's Corp--
[All of it was his fault. He could see it now. If he hadn't said anything, Kromer never would have taken an interest in him]
1/2
Oh no.
Oria thinks he can piece the things together now and that is not good. There's a reason why projects and things are confidential before their public release. ]
2/3
[ He releases one of his hands so that it could firmly hold onto Sinclair's shoulder. ]
It's a little unreasonable to say that it's completely your fault when Kromer did all of... that. Most of the responsibility lies within her. You can tell the same information to someone else, but I can guarantee you that they wouldn't do the same thing she did. She's a nutjob.
[ And now that he's experienced the memory from Sinclair's perspective: ]
And she manipulated you too.
3/3
[ The tone of his voice softens, becoming a little quieter. ]
But I think you're making good progress. You're scared, but you could still talk about her, even if it's probably taking up all your energy right now. That's something, and something is better than nothing, because once you pile all those "somethings", it'll be high eventually. And that's something you can be proud of one day.
1/2
It's all the little 'what ifs' running through his brain. if I had been stronger. smarter. braver.
It wont change anything. He'll wake up every morning, feel the sun on his face and know his family is dead.
He draws in a shuddery breath, biting his lip hard enough it almost bleeds.
But still. Oria's words resonate somewhere in him.
Maybe it's realising he isn't quite alone anymore.]
2/2
[Beneath the crippling fear, was this burning hatred that scared Sinclair just as much. It was eating him alive. He doesn't want to be like her. And yet if he lets his thoughts drift off to that dark place too much...
It's scary what he can see in himself]
...but I can try. I...I want to try.
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See? That's the spirit! You're already halfway there. And if it ever gets too hard for you, come find me and I'll help you.
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Mm. Thank you, Oria. [ He'll just squeeze Oria's hand gently] You really are a good friend.
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