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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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Mm. I think I understand. I don't know if my heart is big and warm... but I would like to be that way. Or, at least, for my friends to feel they can rely on me.
[Walls all around his heart are coming down one by one. He would not have expected this at any time before]
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at this point, they’ve slumped over the grunty, using its back as a headrest as they continue in a lazy half-hug, half-pet situation. mm, feels good, which flashes in the thought bubble briefly before more questions marks come.
slowly: ]
Am I… supposed to ever have felt otherwise…??
[ did they miss a memo for human social cues somewhere? sometimes that happens. ]
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...I don't know. I've been told I need to be stronger...so I thought that made me unreliable.
[Just. Kneeling down in a proper little seiza position as if it comes naturally to him. The grunty is perfectly content to be a headrest for hani, its little tail still wagging]
Do...you need to rest somewhere? You seem...tired.
[Please tell him this is not another case of heatstroke or he really will be chasing after Zelkova everywhere to include better interactive warnings for its players and taking care of their health]
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more question marks. ]
Being strong and being reliable… no connection…?
[ and since he’s so kindly kneeling for them, they stop petting the grunty and start petting him instead. ]
Resting here is fine. Like this… [ since they live in california, this heat is nothing. ] I am tired. I feel…
[ the auto translation does it’s best but ultimately gives up on this one, translating it as a name:
“puru puru.” ]
Y’know…?
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He needs to think over their words, as mumbled as they were. 'Strength' and 'reliability' had no connection, huh?
He doesn't know if he understands that. He knows if he was stronger, he'd be more reliable...or is it the other way around? But he can't push things while Hani like this]
Puru-puru? Like. Wobbly? Jelly?
[That's how the words sound to him]
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Mmm. Feelings are… [ the next bit is mumbled into the grunty’s fur. ] … harder… than I thought. Struggle…
[ the thought bubble flashes through words and phrases in quick succession. “terrible”; “still worried(?)”; “frustrated(??)”;“lingering”; “heavy”; “unsure if hungry or heart hurting”; “need fixing?”; and “normal amount to feel?” ]
Too much, puru.
[ the traveling was the easy part. ]
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It makes it easier to read Hani's train of thought too as he considers his next few thoughts]
...they are, aren't they? Even when it's nice, it's. Hard.
[ Pause]
Harder to breathe sometimes. Or known if you're doing or saying the right thing.
[ His world had been so empty for the last two years. But now, there are people, sparks bringing it back to life. And he can worry in earnest, without having to think about whether he's going to overstep or if he'll lose all of this soon too]
Puru makes sense.
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from now on if they ever feel this much again, there’s going to be a travel ban. it was just this time, they couldn’t help it. the gnawing worry had compelled their actions. ]
Harder to think, too. I didn’t feel… like myself. [ and they have always felt like themself! so that was… a new, distressing experience. ] Or does it - does it… still count as being “Hani” anyway?
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I think it counts. [A little earnestly, as he tries to get the words out before nerves choke him] Feeling things, worrying about people...that's all part of being human right? We can't cut that off, no matter how hard we try.
[an addendum, maybe he shouldn't say this but]
It feels good...to be cared for. I'm sure the person you went to help feels the same way.
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Oh. Then I should practice caring for you, too. I'd like it if you could feel good.
[ "like this." they're thinking of the pats. ]
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...like...with the patting?
[What Hani did earlier did feel nice but]
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[ they could fall asleep like this. ]
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[Sinclair doesn't mind but maybe the heat will become a bit much?]
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Anywhere… is fine. [ if the above conditions are met! do they have to sit up yet? fine, they’ll attempt it… ]
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Then. Let's go inside. It's cooler.
[They can go to the Moon Tree guild??]
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they mumble: ]
Vogel-kun is already cool… [ but they follow his suggestion without question, using aitla’s help to sit up properly. ]
[ “where’s inside?” ]
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Moon Tree guild. It's close by. Better for napping.
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Carry?
[ when he mentions napping, they have to think about that. yes, of course napping, but… a slow thought comes together. a question forms. it’s a good thing vogel can see it happening in real time.
“… … … with me?” ]
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It doesn't stop him from seeing Hani's thought bubble and he nearly trips in his fluster.
Is it the sleep deprivation?
And Sinclair finds it almost impossible to say no to anyone so]
Um. Sure. If that's what you want.
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Big bed?
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Mm. I think it's spacious.
[And to the Moon Tree guild they go, with Sinclair taking Hani to his room to rest. There's nothing strange about this at all. Perfectly normal]
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they curl up on the bed like they were made to exist there, as casual as they please.
is there room for aitla? ]
We’re cuddling, right? I want to. Do you…?
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[Sinclair gets dragged down unceremoniously, no match against Hani's clingy power. He catches himself, heat rising in his cheeks as he's held close.
Um.
This is. Hani is...
Aitla has no problem hopping into the spacious bed, curling up at the foot of it as Sinclair tries to work out what he wants to say.
That he's never shared a bed with anyone since he was five and he's not sure if he's any good at it? But Hani's face is soft. And he's convincing.
Still red, Sinclair nods, letting himself be cuddled as he rests a careful hand over Hani's waist.]
Mmph. [Trying to find the words] I...don't mind.
[ It's nice?]
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they close their eyes, thoughts strangely silent. asleep? not yet. they’re still making an effort to say things. ]
Thank you… to bringing me here. [ because it’s important to say. ] For sharing… your space…
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But it's nice. Comforting]
I'm...happy to. [Little things he can do for people around him. That's fine, isn't it?]</small.
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