⬣//JUST AS A SEED TAKES ROOT.

[cccorp]

>>Secrets // >>Guilds // >>Grunties // >>Carnival // >>Zelkova Corner

⬣//THIS WORLD IS MORE THAN 0S AND 1S.

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.

⬣//ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL.

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.

⬣//FATHER, I HUNGER…

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.

⬣//PROPER CARNIVAL WEATHER.

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.

⬣//ZELKOVA’S META ROUNDUP.

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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Comments

[weaseled]

[Welp! No sense in hiding it when he's being called out, is there? Yael grins and chuckles. Call it a giggle and he'll chuck you into the sun, Fai.]

I'd rather go to an amusement park in real life, but this is the next best thing.

[fluorite]

Close enough, right?

[ But that giggle gives him a bit of pause. ]

Are you a big fan of Disneyland?

[ Is Yael secretly a Disney adult? ]

[weaseled]

Disneyland? Never been. Where I grew up, the best you could hope for was a carnival like this to roll into town every now and then. I'm too old for Disney now.

[...But there's a touch of wistfulness in Yael's answer. Just a touch, like he might've been the kind of child who'd light up with delight at the mere prospect of going to Disneyland. With how he's impatiently fidgeting in line for the rollercoaster, it's not hard to imagine.]

[fluorite]

You're not. We could still go. They have plenty for adults to do, you know.

[ Fai really isn't a Disney person, but he thinks Yael would get a kick out of it at least. Maybe it would be worth it...

He bumps Yael's shoulder with his own. ]

Why not, right?

[weaseled]

[Ugh! Don't lump him in with the Disney adults!! He might actually end up enjoying the experience and that's what terrifies Yael most.]

If you're buying, why not?

[Those tickets are damn expensive, so that ought to shut Fai up.]

[fluorite]

Graduate school and tutoring don't exactly give me a lot of extra money, you know...

[ He would need some help. Isn't this supposed to be an even exchange? ]

[weaseled]

Then forget about it. I'm a poor military man living on disability. We're not exactly the image of your typical Disney couple.

[Wait. Couple??]

[fluorite]

[ Ah, the exact words running through Fai's mind right now. It takes him a second or two to actually react, as if he's encountered some sort of internet connection error.

But he's back to bumping up against Yael shortly after. ]

No, but a lot of people save up for it too. There's no rule saying neither of us can't do that.

[weaseled]

[Ah, good. Fai didn't hear him, and coincidentally, it's time to board the rollercoaster. Yael motions for Fai to wiggle in first before settling beside him and pulling down the lap bar.]

Sounds like a waste of money to me. We could go hiking or fishing instead and have way more fun.

[fluorite]

[ Oh god, he can think of nothing worse than that and it really shows on his face.

Too bad Yael doesn't get a chance to say anything, because the roller coaster takes off. ]

[weaseled]

[...And there they go, shooting off like a rocket. This game never fails to amaze with how accurately it recreates the sights and sensations of the real world, the rush of wind through his hair and the lunging of his heart into his throat with every loop effortlessly bringing a grin to Yael's lips.

It's fun, right? The definition of fun, and as they pass through an inverted loop, he glances over at Fai to see if he's having just as much fun.]

[fluorite]

[ Well, he doesn't have to look hard to see Fai is having fun—he's a pretty typical roller coaster rider, laughing as he lifts his hands up in the air. ]

[weaseled]

[It's a fun ride from beginning to end, and much to Yael's relief, he isn't having to spend it cradling a scared and screaming Fai. When they approach their final stop, he turns to him with the brightest of grins on his lips.]

Not too bad. Almost as fun as the real thing.

[fluorite]

[ Fai reaches up to pinch his cheek. ]

It is, isn't it? [ He pauses, a glimmer of mischievousness in his eyes. ] You're cute.

[weaseled]

[Cute? He'd contest that. Yael acknowledges Fai with a hum, turning his head in an open threat to bite those pinchy fingers.]

You have a strange definition of cute.

[fluorite]

[ He considers, just for a brief moment, shoving his fingers in Yael's mouth. ]

I've been told that before. If you ask me, I think I have a great definition of it.

[weaseled]

[The fingers rudely barge into his mouth unhindered... and rather than take them out, Yael sighs and mumbles around them.]

You're fuf of shit. Get your fingerth out of my mouf.

[fluorite]

Not a fan?

[ He's not moving them one bit. ]

Wow, you're pretty traditional, aren't you?

[weaseled]

[Annoying. He bites them hard enough to smart before grabbing Fai's wrist and dragging his fingies out of his mouth.]

What do you mean?

[fluorite]

[ Fai hisses at that bite, but the grin doesn't leave his face. ]

Nothing.

[ Maybe he would have elaborated if Yael hadn't bitten him. (He would not have.)

He tries to shove his fingers back into Yael's face. ]

Lick my wounds. That hurt.

[weaseled]

[Yael seriously doubts this bitch would've elaborated. When Fai shoves those fingers back in his face, Yael simply grins. It's a decidedly ill-mannered grin.]

You can shove those fingers up your ass.

[WOW!!]

[fluorite]

[ So rude!! But Fai doesn't let it get to him as he smirks at Yael. ]

You really would like to see that, wouldn't you? What a pervert.

[weaseled]

What, you're offering to demonstrate? And you call me a pervert.

[Yael disembarks the roller coaster, trotting off and away from the nasty pervert known as Fai McFaison... but all he's really doing is running around in circles.]

Get away from me, perv. Stranger danger.

[fluorite]

I never offered to demonstrate. I think you're just spouting off wishful thinking.

[ He gives chase to Yael for a minute, but once he realizes he's going in circles, he sticks out a leg to try to trip him. ]

[weaseled]

[Ah, he sees that leg. He's gonna hope Fai's petty ass has his pain censors off so he doesn't get mad when Yael pivots to sweep out a leg and kick the bend of his knees. He's definitely gonna land on his butt if he wasn't expecting that.]