⬣//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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[ Which is something Fai looks very proud of. He's going to wrangle all the men with cold exteriors he can into this guild. ]
Ah, but Yael was the first member. He's been one for a few days now.
[ And that has Fai smirking. He's incredibly proud of that one. ]
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[ There's obvious surprise in Hector's voice. He quirks a brow. ]
You got that grumpy bastard to be your first member?
[ Grumpy bastard (affectionate), obviously, but.
As he brings his wine to his lips, he keeps his eyes on Fai and asks, ] What, did you sweet talk him into this?
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He wanted to see my guild, but I wouldn't let him in without joining. [ Less sweet talk and more being annoyingly pushy. ] I guess he secretly likes being a member, so he hasn't removed himself.
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Or maybe he doesn't know how.
[ Sheesh, Hector is older and at least he knows how to read tooltips and menus. Yael is the real old man here. ]
Does he come in at all?
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[ It doesn't seem like Yael cares much to learn how to use any of the controls in this game, honestly. Even offering to teach him doesn't get far.
Fai shifts around, grabbing some juice to pour himself a glass of it. ]
I don't really know if he comes in much, actually. Whenever we hang out, we're going to dungeons or looking around different areas.
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As he brings his glass to his lips, his brow quirks again. ]
Oh? So you hang out a lot?
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[ He takes a sip from his glass, too, giving Hector a little shrug. ]
He sends me party invites when he knows I'll be free.
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[ There's incredulity in Hector's voice, and he looks like he's about to burst out laughing. What? Yael knows how to do that? ]
Wow. [ He sets his wine glass down and leans on the counter again. ] He must really like you.
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I’d like to think so. He’s gruff, but he shows affection in little ways, I think.
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Affection? What?
He has to hold back more laughter. ]
What, are you guys fucking or something?
[ Said entirely in jest, but— ]
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Wow, that joke is so hilarious that Fai actually takes a second or two to take a sip from his juice so he can compose himself. He laughs lightly, and hopefully, convincingly. ]
...What gave you that idea?
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...Because "affection" isn't a word I'd use in the same sentence as "Yael."
[ A beat. ]
Wait, seriously? You are? [ Hold on, the realization dawns on him as he tries to hold back another laugh: ] In VR?
[ He concentrates on the hilarity of the cybering part to ignore the weird way his stomach twists. ]
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It just… happened. I wouldn’t have normally tried it.
[ Not when he could go out and find someone in real life. ]
To its credit, it does feel extremely real.
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Hector does laugh, a bit. Probably not as much as if he were talking to Yael, because the way Fai speaks makes him feel...a little bad. ]
Well. At least someone here's getting some!
[ There's an odd, sharp gleam in his eye before he goes in to finish off his wine, letting the glass obscure his expression. ]
And thanks for the tip. I'll keep that in mind.
[ This, he says like a joke. Because who is playing this game to cyber? Not him????? ]
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That, and the way he downs his drink, gives him away. Settling against the bar, Fai affixes him with a look. ]
The real thing is better anyway. You aren’t missing out.
[ He can tell there’s more to it, but he figures that this will instead serve as his way of saying as much. ]
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[ Who that statement is meant for is a bit of a mystery.
Anyway, the more he thinks about this, the more it irritates him. So he goes for the abrupt subject change. ]
So, got any fun guild activities planned?
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Hmm... not at the moment. Do you have any suggestions?
[ He's mostly planning on hanging out around the @ home for now, honestly. ]
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Oh— [ He puts his glass down, gaze darting back up to Fai. ] What about a quiz night or something? Or a darts tournament?
[ He got those darts from that dungeon, after all... ]
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Humming, Fai considers those ideas. They’re actually pretty good, but… ]
The first one would be boring to most people, since all I could think of would be science questions. [ The fate of being a nerd that isn’t in tune with most pop culture… ] But I like darts. Hmm. What would make a good prize, in your opinion?
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He didn't expect to be asked about prizes, though. He pauses to think for a moment. ]
I'm not sure. [ He's usually the one winning them, not coming up with them. ] An exclusive thing of booze, maybe? Or some kind of... [ He gestures vaguely in the air. ] ...unique guild reward?
[ Sorry, man. He has no idea. ]
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[ You know, to complement the jazz. It's a thought at least, even if Fai isn't really serious about it, which is obvious enough in his tone. ]
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[ Not him, obviously. But to be fair he's never asked. ]
Or how about gold? We could make a pot, and winner takes it all.
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[ He can think of nothing more entertaining than watching people get embarrassed as they play instruments terribly.
As for gold— ]
Want to cover for my portion? It was your idea, after all.
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[ He doesn't know what goes into running a guild. He's just here for the wine.
Speaking of, he takes another sip as he falls silent again. And when he looks up to speak, there's firm sincerity in his eyes and in his lowered voice. ]
You're a good guy, Fai. I hope Yael treats you right.
[ Mmm that stings. ]
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Although, what Hector says after puts a bad taste in his mouth. He's not a good person, despite whatever Hector might think of him, and he can't help as his grip tightens around his own glass of juice. It's noticeable and he's aware that it's noticeable... and all that does it make him upset. ]
Thanks.
[ Fai is the undeserving one in the equation here and he's well aware of it. It's a shame he can't be a little more genuine in his gratitude even though he sincerely means it. ]
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