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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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So, thanks to Ganymede's booboo and comedy of errors, there are no swimsuits given out. ]
...No, I didn't get it.
[ Maybe he got too excited and forgot to throw the ball. How embarrassing and he's actually a little disappointed. Not that he's about to say that. But he reaches for one of his shoes, taking it off, and aiming it at the button. He's not standing all that far away, yet... ]
We're going to have to do it over, I think. Just stay in that spot, alright?
[ He's gonna be tossing the shoe straight into the red button, which will work just fine! ]
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[ Tylor jokes good naturedly, swinging his legs over the water cheekily. ]
Oh, okay. You got--
[ And then, predictably, Tylor is dunked. It was obvious it was coming, but he still laugh-yells again on the way down. Cut short by water, he's submerged a moment before he breaks the surface and shoves his hair out of his eyes. ]
How about now?
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[ Which is cheating, isn't it? Ganymede resists from pouting childishly, though.
He hears the sound of the laugh-yelling that intercedes in the middle of what else Justy was about to say, though. ]
Hold on...
[ And voila! The swimsuit awards have been applied. ]
...It looks like it worked this time. Honestly, it should've before, but I do understand the necessity of following rules.
[ Ganymede says as he goes to pick up and retrieve his tossed shoe. ]
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[ There's the air of incoming flattery, but his nose crinkles in Ganymede's direction instead. Like he doesn't even need to say how happy he was to be dunked by such a beautiful person. He turns in the water to pull himself out of the dunk tank while that shoe is getting retrieved. ]
I bet you got a pretty one.
[ And yet, he's actually waiting patiently for once. Hair shoved out of his face, he really hopes Ganymede feels like equipping that new skin. ]
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[ Ganymede can easily recall the showing on mirth both instances from Justy's side of thing. After he puts on his light-colored shoe, slipping it back on with ease, he will turn back to face the brunet. ]
I did, yes. There are some jewels on it, and it does fit my aesthetic well.
[ He supposes he ought to try it on to be certain, so he does. It's light-colored like his usual attire is, though not skin-tight—as to be expected of most men's swimwear. Kind of closer to this with some probable unnecessarily impractical jewelry than anything, with an added necklace accessory, or something to that effect. ]
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[ Tylor's face lights up at the fitting look of Ganymede's swimsuit. ]
Wow it looks really good on you! Don't you feel cooler already?
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What, me actually getting up there and letting someone dunk me?
[ He sounds mildly amused. Yeah, he dislikes making a fool of himself, but somehow he doubts the brunet before him will mock him for it.
Though, he does certainly perform a small twirl out of habit when commentary is given. Come to think of it, it does feel a bit nicer, however it isn't like what he had been wearing before was all that layer-heavy. ]
Just a bit, yeah.
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[ Tylor jokes, lighthearted. At least his skin has water shoes instead of flip flops. So there is a chance it won't take forever.
That twirl of his earns a little clap from Tylor. ]
Oh just wait, the water feels even better.
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[ Ganymede answers semi-seriously, perhaps thinking a bit too much on the matter. He resists also bowing from the little clap even if that action is kind of ingrained in him.
But he does take a glance around to ensure there are no vaguely-familiar other faces around. Then, he will begin to get up to where the seat is situated. ]
Where I come from, the heat doesn't really bother me much. But it's really offputting to feel it in a game...
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[ Tylor agrees breezily, like he's never played sports as a kid that involved throwing balls. As Ganymede situates himself to be dunked, Tylor similarly readies himself to throw his shoe. ]
Oh, me too. Which place do you think is hotter, Japan or where you're from?
[ Although he's going to throw his shoe a beat after he asks, innocently and without trying to catch him mid answer. ]
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[ Ganymede states without a single bit of doubt. There's no reason to, when he is certain winters in Greece are, well. They happen, but big ones? Apparently, Athens has only seen six snow events since 2000. ]
...I think I'm ready now.
[ Adding so that he can helpfully give an indication! ]
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[ And there he goes, dramatic wind up and all. The roll says it hits with a solid thump! Enjoy that refreshing dip! ]
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He falls ungracefully into the water. Though soon he pokes his head out of the water and begins to crawl on out. ]
...Not one of my best moments.
But, maybe it wasn't so bad.
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Well, you wouldn't be human without some of those. [ But he does give a soft chuckle, ready to dry him off with some honesty-- ] Besides, you looked lovely.
[ He'll wait patiently for him to wring out his hair, or whatever people with such beautiful hair do with it after being dunked, before going on with a nod towards their adventure options, including the hall of mirrors clearly visible down a row of stalls-- ]
Want to play some games?
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Ganymede's getting down from the area is a bit more graceful at least. For the slight bit of indignity, he'll take the compliment with...well, normally he'd flip his hair a little, however he is indeed wringing the water out of his hair now. ]
I appreciate the compliment, considering.
[ Afterwards, his gaze follows the direction of the nod, catching the hall of mirrors, and the little bit of games along the way. ]
We have enough time on our hands. Why not?
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[ It's hard to tell if he's asking or just saying his thoughts aloud as he steps away. He'll also offer Ganymede his elbow with a glance of a playful smile. ]
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As an aside, if it's a matter of being decisive in picking their poison, Ganymede will make a choice, whether or not it's just throwing ideas out there. ]
...Why not go through the hall of mirrors, and then come back for ring toss?
[ And, essentially, maximize their options, since they're here to indulge in fun and games. Even in a game. ]
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Sounds good, shot caller. [ And along the way looking at the booths on the way by-- ] They did a pretty good job on this carnival, didn't they?
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They did. Maybe they were keen to get the core details down due to proper research or experience?
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[ And here is the entrance to the hall of mirrors, Tylor glances to Ganymede before moving to step inside. ]
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[ Ganymede follows after him, eyeing the mirrors lined across all the walls, squinting at an image that makes him look ridiculously tiny... ]
Do you go to them often?
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Well, I used to. But that was a long time ago. [ Leaning back to tower over Ganymede in the next mirror-- ] What about you?
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[ He says dryly, as Justy gives out a laugh of his own. But he knows that the distortion of their appearances is exactly the point... ]
Occasionally. Not all that much as I had when I was younger.
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The mirror goes hazy and he's small again, a warm hand holding each of his own. Firm, in the steady way that Earth is beneath your feet instead of caving in around you. Grounding in all the ways that looking up at each person, bright blue eyes and warm brown, could be for a kid.
Telescopes, exhibits, the sky soaring above a dazzling spread of the city-- the Los Angeles Basin lighting up as night falls. Eventually, an overheard conversation muffled by distance where your parents are waiting for you.
I can't, Hiroshi. Filters the voice of your mom.
But it's the job you've always wanted. This is your dream. You father, softer than hers.
I know, but Justy needs me. I know you love him. But I'm his mother I won't just ship him off--I can't, he's doing so well in school--
You scuff your shoes on the shiny floor, pretending not to have heard. Pulling them to the café, your parents eventually relax into the comfortable rhythm of being in one another's company. Rare, but perpetually effortless; even when your mom makes fun of your dad for animating caterpillars out of straw wrappers. Accordions spread by water to the applause of laughter. Or when they all retaliate by tossing napkins at one another with laughter. Your flattery remains and was clearly inherited from your father. Your mother, the tallest among them in her seat, rolls her eyes often. Yet there was always affection.
It's only then, at the end, that you say with confidence to the sky like you'd never heard anything at all,
"Hey dad," then in perfect Japanese --"Is school less boring in Japan?" ]
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It obviously has nothing to do with him; the landmarks and building construction make the location an unfamiliar sight. Almost. He has seen images of LA before, even if he is not from the US.
Still, without thinking, he asks: ]
...Who is Justy?
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