Maidens of the Emperium

[trancehime]

I hate you <3 you esifex


PRELUDE A - THE ACTOR'S ANTEROOM

"Hey, hey! Watch where you're placing those gusts!"

"I'm sorry, I'm not used to anything that isn't my own keyboard and mouse setup."

"Oh, that's right... You rarely do go out to net cafes, right?"

The atmosphere was murky, it seemed to be a shady internet cafe of sorts. Lots of computers were lined up neatly, though, and everyone who was inside it seemed to be quite clean. The murkiness of the shop appeared to be for aesthetics only, as if it were a shady place for gangsters and the like to hang out. The area was quiet, because it was a rather unholy hour. This teenaged boy and his girlfriend had been dating for a long time now, mostly because they shared very similar interests, and found themselves having "fateful encounters," despite their appearances, they did actually respect one another. However, our concern isn't really with these two, so we'll just call them John and Jane Doe, even if they aren't ACTUALLY married. Now, you see, John and Jane Doe are really your typical teenagers who are very much into massively multiplayer online roleplaying games. They are hooked into the world of Ragnarok Online, one such game, made by the Korean company Gravity. Recently, they joined a private server being handled by an enigmatic gamemaster (GM) by the name of "Darchrow," who named the server "KaleidoscopeRO." John Doe had decided to take up the mantle of a protector, a Crusader, whereas Jane Doe had opted for magical domination, the path of a Wizard.

Now, while we established the relative non-importance of these two kids, it is important to note that... Well, most of the world will be seen through their eyes. In any case, a round of grinding and hunting for equipment was over, so the pair took their characters back to the prodigal city of Prontera to take a break and... Well, do the thing everyone did when they went there: sit down and talk, have some idle banter. As they sat down and pretty much watched what was going on, the following exchange occurred very nearby between a Lord Knight riding a Peco and a female Whitesmith.

"Hey, can I squeeze your(ry"

"Do you want me to smash your face in like I always do~?"

Beneath the Lord Knight displayed the name "Helepolis," and apparently he was part of a guild called "THE MEIDO BRIGADE." As with the Whitesmith, she too, belonged to the same guild, and was simply called "Kurobara." This led John Doe to believe that the two were actually flinging jokes at each other (though Kurobara would indeed completely wreck Helepolis in a player versus player match through copious abuse of Cart Termination, leading one to question the viability of Spiral Pierce in trying to defend...). Jane Doe was curious, so she inquired what exactly Helepolis and Kurobara were planning on doing.

"We're waiting for our other guildmates. We're going to run Abyss Lakes and try and defeat Detale again." Kurobara said, as Helepolis' character emitted a small laughing emote. John Doe was thinking for a moment. These people must be strong... and he continued to wait, too, with Jane Doe, as they sat there, wondering if there was something strange in this server. Soon, more people started to come in to Prontera. John Doe could see a High Priest, another Lord Knight (this one was female, and wielded a sword instead of a spear like the male one did) and a Paladin. The High Priest was male but seemed to wear the most feminine gear possible, as well as boasting a similarly feminine hairstyle. The Paladin seemed to always shoot the question mark emote, as if he were lost.

"Oh, it's Sana and company." Helepolis mentioned briefly.

The Paladin had the handle of Sana, the female Lord Knight had the handle of S. Rurouni, and the High Priest had the handle of Hime. Sana did the spinning emote and started mentioning news that started to scare Kurobara. "Hey, I tried to contact the others to see if we could assemble our instancing party, but they are all busy, so it's just the five of us!" Sana said. Kurobara let loose a crying emote. "Are you serious? We don't have any crowd-control at all!" It was then she noticed John Doe and Jane Doe. Blah. They could help, I guess? But we can't take them to Abyss Lakes. Much too dangerous for their level. she thought.

"Hey, you two."

"Us?"

John Doe was surprised at the prospect of transcendent second job classes asking them for help, but he wasn't going to complain any time soon. Kurobara had then insisted on asking them for some assistance. One unique thing about KaleidoscopeRO is that it had no level limit for partying characters... It made it quite popular for most people, but turned off the more hardcore players and the purists for some reason. Jane Doe had asked where they were going to go. Hmm... Tough question, missie Kurobara thought. She whispered something to Helepolis. He replied in kind and Kurobara merely said the words "Nameless Abbey."

What?! Nameless?! We don't have any rangers! That's sui-- ...

"Sana is a Grand Cross Paladin. We don't have anyone for Devotion, but you can help us with tanking." Kurobara said, nodding.

Uhh...

John and Jane Doe were quite surprised. Why would they be going to Nameless Abbey? The only purpose of going there was to hunt for specific gear or to gain levels. With this sort of party composition, there was absolutely no chance they could take on Beelzebub on the third floor OR Fallen Bishop Hibram on the second. Furthermore, they had absolutely zero knowledge on the competence of Hime as their one and only High Priest. Could he Pneuma fast enough to render the vomiting zombies useless? Does he buff fast enough? He's not an Archbishop yet, so party-wide assistance doesn't come fast enough! So many questions filled in the minds of these two kids... Yet... They all went and warped to the dungeon proper anyway. The strange thing that occurred to Kurobara when they warped was the strange absence of any Zombie Slaughters. They had all been killed, their loot was strangely left on the ground. Boggle? Everything else remained untouched. There were two incoming Banshees from the north side.

"Hey, you! Throw your Storm Gusts at it!" S. Rurouni blasted as she auto-attacked the various monsters that swarmed by, keeping her mighty Aura Blade and Two-Hand Quicken up and mashing on them with the mighty Muramasa, one would wonder why she isn't being cursed - her statistics were designed solely to counter-act the curse, the magic LUK number of 99+x, and reap the benefits of wielding such a destructive weapon. Jane Doe was simply in awe of what was going on as she cast Storm Gust, praying that her Aria Hat's effect would kick in to make spellcasting a faster affair. Each felled monster seemed to make John and Jane Doe happier, for they had never received such an experience boost before. The High Priest was doing a good job of keeping everyone healed too, and Resurrecting anyone who had somehow died... Sana, meanwhile, was trying his best to keep the monsters centered around him, so that Grand Cross may be a great punishing force.

They marched on forward to the next floor, blazing through the hordes of Banshees, Hell Poodles and Flame Skulls that charged back, and Sana noticed a great lack of Zombie Slaughters and Ragged Zombies. By the time they reached the stairs to the next floor, something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

"Uhm... Guys?" Sana said.

"?"

"Remember when I said they were busy? ...Uh... Well..."

"...They... They didn't."

"They're so fucked."

"What the hell are we waiting for?! Let's go!"

The unspeakable had happened. The rest of the instancing party actually attempted to go through the second floor and attempt a fight against the Fallen Bishop Hibram. It was evident because there was a Lich's Bone Wand on the ground, presumably dropped there by someone running away (it was actually Sana in a great panic), which Jane Doe promptly looted for her own purposes. They all went to the next floor and saw all of their friends' bodies on the ground. Hime immediately set forth to resurrect each and every one of them. Many Necromancers had been slain here, and in the distance one could see that Fallen Bishop Hibram had just a little under half of his life. There was here, a High Wizard (Purvis), a Professor (Drakums), a Dancer (Baitums) and a Bard (Jana). Kurobara was in awe. "Sana tanked that thing for ALL FOUR OF YOU?" she asked. Sana nodded.

"It was a good fight, I swear..." Drakums had wheezed. Their issue was the fact they had no semblance of tankage. They all consisted of squishy classes except Sana, and perhaps Drakums himself who had gone for mostly vitality over intelligence, since he was playing a full support Professor. Hime sighed. "It's not a good idea to go off on your own like that. You should have told us instead of going off here... We could have gone here instead of Abyss Lakes. It's a good thing Helepopopolis told us to come here, lest we never would have found you."

John and Jane Doe were in awe once more. The camaraderie could be felt from miles away. Now that everyone was here, it was time to begin the real fight. A true encounter was about to begin.

[Matsuri]

Oh god, RO. Good times.

At the same time, I feel like such a nerd for actually understanding everything you said.

[Dan-Heron]

can I know what it's been said?

[Esifex]

Ahahaahhaahahahaahaa

<3 you too Hime

[trancehime]

yeah well you shut up acidus


PRELUDE B - THE END OF 1000 YEARS

The Fallen Bishop Hibram was a very tough foe. It boasted a huge amount of strength and vitality, and had the ability to spawn a massive amount of Necromancers at once, placing him among the top rank of the MVPs one could fight, up with big names like Ifrit, Ktullanux and even Beelzebub despite having significantly less life than ANY of them! It looked like a rather demented priest in simple garb, however, his face was all horribly skewed into some sort of angry face, corrupted by a rather condescending evil spirit burdening his shoulder and rendering him some sort of hunchback, meanwhile, his skin had been drained of all semblance of oxygen, rendering it a horrid, pallid blue. The Necromancers that were guarding their master were some sort of bipedal lupine skeletons, swathed in tattered and ripped brown and blue robes, and constantly hammering their staffs up and down. They did not look that threatening, but they were one of the most dangerous monsters one could face down here. They hold a mini-boss status, and the fact Hibram could summon these at will made things extremely dangerous.

John and Jane Doe looked at each other, back in the internet cafe, very seriously. This had all happened in the span of thirty minutes. Furthermore, why are they involved in this affair? They were extremely weak compared to the rest. Sure, they were in the high nineties and were looking for a small experience boost to achieve rebirth, but they didn't expect THIS to happen, let alone tussle with the Fallen Bishop Hibram! But a reality check was needed here. They were there, and they needed to make themselves useful. The team had several damage dealers, a lot of crowd control, instant casting, and basically they were fully prepared... Except for one thing. Hime was the only High Priest and he could only do so much. John Doe had to assist with tanking (his gear was sub-optimal, note) and Jane Doe had to assist with casting (her gear however, was more than enough, considering the Lich Bone Wand she had just found earlier to switch freely with her +4 Quadruple Dextrous Rod). The first assault was to be carried out by the spellcasters. Purvis and Jane Doe began casting their magical spells, though it mostly consisted of Storm Gust to try and cause hitstun to the Necromancers. Helepolis was a VIT Lord Knight who focused on tanking while continuously using Spiral Pierce, while S. Rurouni constantly kept up the attack on Hibram himself with powerful Aura Blade attacks, blessed with magical powers courtesy of Hime's large stash of Holy Waters, which he quickly administered to everyone else relying on weaponry to deal damage. Jana was constantly flashing the Poem of Bragi and Baitums was using Assassin Cross Sunset for a good deal of time. Sana opted not to use Grand Cross and instead used Gospel while the fight was being localized via Storm Gust spam.

Hibram's life was already significantly weakened by the incomplete group's initial salvo, but the effects were clearly increasing in magnitude as the numbers flew everywhere around the screen, constant damage in the middle to high thousands could be seen, and the Necromancers kept being vanquished again and again. However, Hibram still had a high amount of life. It was a tough fight, especially tiring for Hime, who at one point said something very alarming: "It's getting very late... I'm starting to get tired... I'm sorry, guys. I'll try to continue, though!! Let's finish this quickly." As the group's current, only priest, this scared the ever-loving crap out of everyone who pretty much relied on the constant buffing and healing to survive. Even with Sana to Gospel, a Paladin cannot replace the indispensable things a High Priest does. The battle raged on for longer, and the life that was visible on that monster was showing signs of dwindling, at last. John and Jane Doe noted that the life on the monster was slowly reaching 0%. 5... 4... 3... 2... 1! Suddenly, the MVP icon flashed on someone's head. Everyone had the auto-looting function on, so it was clear who the MVP was. "Oh, cool, I got the stuff." Kurobara mentioned. "We should share this stuff later when we leave." So then, everyone decided to quickly warp back to Prontera to discuss what had happened.

"You know, you didn't have to wipe and wait for us to come to you, you know. You should have just asked." Kurobara said as she was trading the loot with everyone who needed or wanted it. Everyone was shooting happy emoticons but there was still some discussion going on. Hime released a sleepy emote.

"I'm tired, I'm going to sleep. Good night, everyone." Hime said before signing off and disappearing for the rest of the night. He did not get anything. Usually, he never asked for anything so it didn't matter. But John and Jane Doe felt kind of bad for the High Priest not getting anything despite supporting the entire team on his lonesome. John Doe wanted to say something but kept quiet.

"Isn't the priest going to get something?" Jane Doe asked.

"He never asks for anything."

"...? Why?"

"Don't ask me."

"...Don't you feel bad at all?"

"Not like he asks."

"..."

"It's getting late," Helepolis said. "I need to run off for dinner."

"Baaah, I'm tired."

Lots of people began to sign off too after stating their feelings of happiness towards beating the MVP, and soon John and Jane Doe started feeling bored. They had reached well over ninety percent of the required experience for the coveted level ninety-nine. Kurobara had signed off too, and the two were stuck wondering what they should be doing now. They checked the clock and noted that it was getting quite late. It was a Friday night, yeah, but they needed to get back home. They happened to be next-door neighbours too, not that this is all that relevant in the long run. They said goodbye to the people remaining in Prontera and they too, signed off, before cashing in at the internet cafe's counter and leaving.

"So..."

"Yes?"

"How was it?"

"...Interesting."

"I still feel kinda bad about that priest..."

"Does it matter, really? He never asked."

"I guess."

"They seemed like nice people... I hope we meet them again."

"Me too."

And then they went home.

[trancehime]

ACT 01 - CURTAIN RISE

** Side A **

John and Jane Doe were on their summer vacation, now, and it was a good time for them to relax, and mostly have fun. Often, they would arrange for dates and try to minimize the amount of time spent on the computer and mostly have some fresh air. You see, these people were what one would consider as "casual, but knowledgeable." They didn't play so seriously, but they had a good grasp on how to play their video games and they usually didn't have too much trouble, and if they did they'd ask for help on it. Today, John Doe was busy. The following day, John Doe had to go on a vacation with his family. Hence, he had notified Jane Doe prior to this date to arrange something. The two of them met up at a nearby coffee shop and simply sat down and had some quiet time of chatting to each other about basically what had happened recently. Jane Doe had inquired about where exactly John Doe was going. He couldn't say for sure since he wasn't entirely sure either; his parents had decided to keep it a secret from him and his sister for now. John Doe had asked in return what Jane Doe was planning on doing.

"Well, I learned some things."

"Like what?"

"I found out that the people we partied with the other day... Some of them don't really live that far from us."

"What are you implying? It's too dangerous if I think you're going to do what I think you're going to do."

"I know, it was just a passing thought. Maybe when you return from vacation?"

"Let's see. I'll only be gone for a couple of days, anyway. I won't be long, I swear."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Jane Doe smiled at John, who replied in similar fashion. Please stay safe... I would really hate it if something bad happened to you... And I'll miss you a lot, too, even for just a while. she thought to herself as John received a text message on his phone. The number was one he didn't recognize. "Huh..." he muttered. He didn't know who it was, but the message was very chilling. Good morning, sir! You guys were playing last night at that cafe, right? I own that place. That server... is quite peculiar. You should stay away from that server unless you have no value for your life. Go play somewhere else. Jane Doe took a peek at the message and her facial expression scrunched a little. The two of them remained silent and looked at each other for a bit. They decided they wouldn't heed the warning... Perhaps it was something used as a scare tactic... Or something else. After all, they didn't have very much idea about the GM Darchrow, perhaps he had something up his sleeve? What of the others who they saw? It was quite a conundrum. Either way, they were going to continue no matter what.

** Other Side **

GM Darchrow was logged in today. He was stationed in Prontera at the moment. He was the sole GM of the entire server, apparently he has entire bots designed and run on high-powered computers in order to handle the load of the players who play on the server. He had several players he designated as "Gatekeepers." Each of them was part of a guild called GATE, which was an acronym standing for "Grand Anachronistic Troop Executor," they were given 'special benefits' from the GM himself, this was actually practice frowned upon by general but the fact of the matter is nobody knew about it. These Gatekeepers had names prefixed with the word "Gatekeeper." They were instructed not to tell anyone about their free gear. The Gatekeepers were employed because of their ability to keep their cool in a dangerous and/or threatening situation, and also their ability to negotiate without the use of brute force and/or language.

The Gatekeepers all stood scattered around the fountain at the center of Prontera, as various low-leveled and high-leveled players alike ran around in their own business. GM Darchrow himself was in the Gatekeepers guild, which led some of these high-level players to construct their own theories as to who he was and his personal army. It did not matter in the end, though, all their affairs were discussed quickly in guild chat.

"Did you hear? The Meido Brigade vanquished another high-level MVP."

"Do you consider that worrying?"

"Not at all."

"Why not? They refuse to become Gatekeepers. No matter how many times Sir Darchrow has invited them, they won't budge."

"They're not as serious as you guys... Don't worry about it. I have my own plans for them. I have control over this server, you know."

"Do you think anyone suspects this?"

"No. Every move I make is subtle. There's nothing to worry about, here... Though those two newbies... THEY'RE the people I'm worried about."

"I sent them a text message telling them to leave before they get hurt, but I doubt it's happening."

"That's fine, then. They'll see what you meant sooner or later."

"...I suppose you're right."

** Side B **

Today, a lot of things were going to happen. A lot of The Meido Brigade this time happened to stay quite close to one another, some of them being roommates with each other. This made meetings and the like extremely convenient, but then there was an emergency meeting being called by Arashi, who played Kurobara on the server. She was the guild master. They had all made their way to the local coffee store, some sort of unnamed place with a bastardization of Starbucks as its logo. Many of those inside had already bought a small cuppa coffee or some tea. Or both. Everyone also happened to be wearing fairly casual clothes, which made the meeting seem like less of a meeting and more like a friendly get-together.

"Topchef..."

"Hmm? Yes, yes?"

"...Yanagi is not there? He's staying with you, right?"

"He's got some problems. He will catch up later."

"Right, okay."

And just as Arashi uttered the words "okay," Yanagi rushed into the store, heaving a large backpack with him. He was panting and he looked a little like a mess. He was also sweating a little bit. He was Topchef's roommate. They played the characters of Hime and Helepolis, respectively. Yanagi apologized profusely for his tardiness, explaining that he had to do some quick errands, hence the rather large backpack. In fact, what was in his backpack were a large ration of various Japanese confectioneries. Keith, who played Drake, sat casually in his chair and looked extremely chill. "So, why did you call us to this meeting, again? I would have liked to sleep in." he said plainly.

"I've got some concerns."

"What kind of concerns?"

"Those two kids we saw that night."

"What about them?"

"Well, I suspect we're going to get ourselves involved into something big... One of the Gatekeepers, Shou, has been onto us pretty hard."

"You don't want them to get hurt."

"Right. Gatekeeper Shou kept whispering me these things... I don't want to mention them, but I figure we should try our best to keep them out of this."

"How do you even know the Gatekeepers are a real threat? They could be bluffing."

"Topchef has a good point."

"And our numbers are stagnating. A lot of our former guildmembers are telling me that they're concentrating on our studies. We can't hope to expand like this. We're going to struggle to defend our current castle in this state."

"I know some people."

"Try and get them to join, then."

"I shall."

"Lastly, did any of you guys get a rather strange whisper or private message from the GM?"

That last phrase made everyone silent. Nobody answered, but a lot of them were fidgeting. They obviously did, but it wasn't the same message for each of them, if it made all of them feel this awkward. Arashi sighed and simply suggested just to whisper the messages to her online, because they probably felt uncomfortable about it. They spent the rest of their time discussing anything they needed to hunt, possible new strategies for the upcoming War of Emperium, and finally, what they were going to do now that their sole emperium-breaking Assassin became AWOL. After this was concluded, and everyone had finished their coffee and/or tea, they had started to leave the shop in droves. The barista at the counter was typing a message into his cellphone.

The strange thing was...

The person he was typing to had the name of "DC."

[Sana]

This is incredibly silly :V

[Kiro]

/bingbing
/bingbing
/bingbing
/bingbing
/bingbing
/bingbing
...

Flashing Bragi with Sunset made me grin. You're doing a Bio3 story later, I sincerely hope. Also, p.server antics; lawl.

This man knows his stuff! You play anywhere in particular Trance?

[RainfallYoshi]

Why am I getting a hint of .Hack in this? The whole "if you value your lives" thing makes me think Darchrow is gonna Data Drain the fuck out of people or something.  :V

Also, being an old RO vet, this is incredibly awesome. You captured the "you just got raped" aspect of Nameless pretty well.

[Rikter]

This oddly makes RO look more interesting to look into.

[Alfred F. Jones]

I don't play RO, so I can't say anything about that aspect of the story, but I have been keeping up with this and I'm eager to see how it turns out. :3

[trancehime]

Re: Kiro - Instancing and dungeon running is an integral part of the story, so just keep an eye out for it. Recently, I haven't played in any servers but I have had just a little under 7 years of experience. I was also invited to participate in one of the World Ragnarok Championships, but I wasn't able to attend.

Re: YellowYoshi - :3c


ACT 02 - WANDERING IN TORTURE

** Other Side **

"Fishy, holy hell. You need to stop doing that." grumbled a tough looking Stalker decked out in Diablos gear. He was sitting patiently by a tree in the further reaches of Prontera, nearby the church were people would get married. This Stalker was not a Gatekeeper, nor his compatriot, Fishy, who was a Biochemist, who specialized mostly in producing pots, rather than an offensive-based one who would rely on the power of attacks like Acid Demonstration and the like. Fishy looked back at his Stalker friend and smiled. "Esi, I know what I am doing. Besides, we're getting rich through this," he said, as Esifex continued to sit down and shot an annoyed emote. "And you haven't forgotten that we owe someone a lot of money? That dude saved our butts back then by paying for that item we needed. So we gotta pay him back." Esifex, resigned to the realization that they were indeed indebted to their savior, sighed and acknowledged Fishy in response.

"It would have been much easier to have a wizard around to help me harvest all those herbs and mushrooms..." Fishy lamented, sighing at their lack of area of effect attacks. Esifex was designed for single targets, and did not plagiarize Storm Gust, as was commonplace for most Rogues and Stalkers at the time. He was around to hunt and kill monsters, not perform the job of a farmer. "Hey, did you hear?" Esifex asked. Fishy shook his head as if he were going to say "No, I did not hear," but it would be a crass joke to do so at this juncture. Esifex explained that he saw a large party of people, under the banner of The Meido Brigade, and that over the span of time he spent watching them, he figured that it would be a good idea to see what they were up to. Fishy then tilted his head.

"The Meido Brigade, you say?"

"Yeah."

"...Wait, isn't the guy we owe part of that guild?"

"The silent dude?"

"Yeah!"

"...Oh...?"

"Yeah, he bought that Combat Knife for me way-back-when!"

"We should find him, again, then."

It was during their discussion that a shady, black-robed High Wizard approached Fishy and Esifex. It was a Gatekeeper, the Gatekeeper Lion. Esifex tilted his head at Lion after immediately recognizing his trademark black cloak and "hacked" Majestic Horn, which only Swordsman classes could equip. Everyone, upon first seeing Lion, had cried foul, but over time, they learned to deal with it after finding out Lion was one of the more reasonable and amiable Gatekeepers. "Good morning, you two." Lion said, flashing a smiling emote. Esifex could only release a small question mark. Fishy was too busy adjusting his flower cart for selling his products to pay much attention, but Esifex had inquired about what business Lion had to talk to the two of them.

"I heard you wanted to find The Meido Brigade."

"Yeah, we owe one of them a favour."

"...Is that so?"

"Yeah..."

Just then, Fishy had finished adjusting his cart and made his way to the center square of Prontera to begin vending. He whispered to Esifex this message: Hey, quickly deal with Lion and then come to me back to Pront Square, I'll be vending. We need to talk. If the Gatekeepers have taken an interest in us, we have to find a way to shake them off. I don't want to get involved in their affairs. Esifex made an exclamation emote but nodded as Fishy sped off after using the Cart Boost. The series of emoticons Lion used were all rather friendly, but the things he started to say got more and more worrying for Esifex.

"Well, friend, I'd just like to mention that if you owe them something because they saved your ass, that's fine. But... You should be careful should you ever want to join them."

"I don't understand. Is something wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, but... I fear for the safety of anyone who gets involved with them."

"That's a little worrying."

"Sir Darchrow has his reasons."

"I see."

"Well, godspeed. Have a nice day."

Lion teleported to another location, probably using the @go command. Esifex was nothing short of creeped out, and instantly used the @warp command to teleport directly to Fishy's location. Esifex kept sweatdropping the entire way. Fishy tilted his head and asked what was wrong. Esifex responded by talking about the things Gatekeeper Lion had told him and warned him about. Smiling, Fishy simply said "That's fine, then. If we don't get involved in their affairs after we pay our dues, we'll be fine." Esifex frowned for a moment but then nodded, realizing that it was in their best interests not to mess with the wishes of GM Darchrow.

** Side B **

Kurobara had a text file in Notepad displaying all the messages that were whispered to her earlier that day, when she asked people to send her the incriminating messages they got from GM Darchrow. She did not bother to label them as it was irrelevant who received what message, but she was busy trying to decipher the meaning behind them. She was tempted to post it on the guild website, but figured if GM Darchrow found out about it she would be in deep shit, so she simply held against that idea and read through the list constantly.

You're a vile stickler. Why couldn't you have just faked your identity? I know THAT happened to you, friend.

You're too chill, as if you're hiding something from the rest of the world. Why don't you share?

Go stick it in his pooper already.

I take it you enjoy getting lost. Maybe I'll grant your wish some day.

Hmm, you're cool. I couldn't think of anything to say about you.

You need to post more videos.

You should go stick it in his pooper too!

Care for some tea and strawberry cake with me some time, dear?

You're a weak leader. You denied my invitation, you silly fool~

"Really, is this something the GM would PM to the players? If so, why isn't anyone else complaining about it? Are we the only ones getting these messages? This makes absolutely no sense. And that barista from the coffee shop that meeting was very suspicious. This place we live in... Also happens to be the place the KaleidoscopeRO server is hosted." Kurobara mused to herself as she was looking at the Notepad file and idling in Prontera. She was thinking about how the other folks were doing, too...

Yanagi and Topchef
Yanagi was in bed and was apparently very tired, so he was not playing, meanwhile, Topchef had just finished some work he was supposed to be doing, so he was playing on his PC. He noticed that Kurobara was online and decided to chat with her. He asked her about what she thought about the messages everyone sent her. Kurobara immediately dodged the question, not having actually thought about a proper response, and instead responded with a question herself. She had asked how Yanagi was doing, because she noticed that he wasn't feeling very well recently. Topchef frowned to himself.

"He's not doing so well."

"What's wrong?"

"I think he's sick."

When Yanagi heard the word sick, he groaned. "I'm fine... I just feel... Ugh..." Topchef had checked his temperature earlier that morning, and noted that he had a fever. Topchef told Kurobara that Yanagi most likely wasn't going to play this week. By now, Yanagi had covered himself in the sheets. Topchef looked very worried. "Yeah, he definitely has a fever." he told Kurobara, who frowned in response. "Where was he last night?" she asked. That was a good question. Topchef then remembered that Yanagi had returned home very late last night looking like a complete mess, not to mention it had been horribly raining outside. Topchef noticed it, but he swore he could smell something absolutely rancid from him, too, as if...

Keith, Sakura, Jana and Baitums
The four of them had decided to have an outing to the nearby internet cafe because today they had an exam. The exam is unimportant. When they logged in, they bumped into the guild chat conversation which did not surprise them one bit. Everyone knew that Yanagi was prone to sickness, as evident in their War of Emperiums were Hime was conspicuously absent: Topchef would then mention that he was recovering from an illness. They asked about what they would do now, without Hime around. Kurobara was busy mulling about it too. "I wanted to investigate what GM Darchrow and his Gatekeepers were up to. I hear there was a new contest GM Darchrow released for the players... It involves the BioLabs."

"I guess we know our next destination, then." Drake said plainly.

"What are we going to do there?"

"We need to defeat at least 5 of every unique mob down at BioLabs 3. The first team to do it gets a prize."

"What's the point of that? What's that got to do with us?"

"I have a feeling GM Darchrow thinks we're ruining the balance of the server by being completely dominating."

"That's a worrying thought."

"I know."

"What are we going to do?"

"Let's see what happens when we win."

[Chaore]

Clearly, Darchrow is Moerin in disguise.

Atleast, the last one reads that perfectly.

[Tengukami]

I don't play RO either, but it hasn't detracted from my enjoyment of this. It sort of has that 80s epic anime vibe to it, a melodrama that I really enjoy.

[Esifex]

I had to do some cross-checking on the dialogue there... for a second, it almost looked like I was the one who got the Combat Knife!

Also, Rogues have Raid - their only AoE attack. It's horribly SP-inefficient, though, so LOL at farming mushrooms with it.

[RainfallYoshi]

Oh geebus Biolabs. They're gonna have a real fun time with that place, it's mobby as hell.

I'm really intrigued by what exactly these Gatekeepers are trying to hide and what Darchrow's aim is. I'm almost expecting Darchrow to be Baphomet or something.  :V

Still waiting on someone to get Data Drained. :smug:

[trancehime]

Re: SRSifex - People tend to think that Raid doesn't exist... At least, competent Rogues

Sorry, I said I was going to update last night, but I was occupied by DotS.


ACT 03 - STILLNESS DARK

** Side A **

John Doe was busy on vacation, he found out that there were lots of opportunities to log on to the Internet here, so he could catch up with some friends back at home when he was done for the day late at night. Through the Internet, he was able to keep in touch with Jane. However, when he was talking to her, he noticed something strange. Jane didn't seem very worried about him... This was very out of character for her. John sensed that something was quite strange. This was not Jane Doe! This was someone else, using her name. An impersonator. A mere moniker. John quickly typed a line in that vein, calling out the other person as an impostor. The person using Jane's account immediately logged off - he had indeed caught the impersonator red-handed... However, he got a text message in quick succession. The number was a local one, yet it had managed to find its way to John. The message bore ominous news. Oh, don't worry, she's not there. In fact, she's going to be seeing you very soon. Give it five minutes. She'll be here. I don't think the both of you will be returning though. You'll be staying here. John immediately deleted the message and looked amazed. He was thinking about what that random person meant by those words. Furthermore, was Jane Doe really coming? He did not know, he was afraid. Soon enough, someone was pushed into the room.

It was, in fact, Jane Doe, in the flesh. John was shocked, and rushed to her. He asked her if she was alright. She responded fairly enough, though her knee was bruised from the fall. John went off to see if he could treat it, but Jane declined. She said she could take care of herself. In any case, the two caught up with each other and the boy learned a lot of things while he was gone. Firstly, he realized that the place he ended up vacationing to was the very same place the KaleidoscopeRO server was being hosted. This actually meant that the people from The Meido Brigade were nearby, too. John Doe wondered what they were up to. Soon enough, John Doe got another text message. This time, the message said Hello, again. Please enjoy your reunion, because I don't think your family will be coming back any time soon. There was an ominous empty space before the end of the message, which was tagged I apologize, but you got yourselves involved in this. -D.C John Doe immediately deleted the message and threw his phone at the couch.

"What's wrong?"

"I... I don't know..."

"You didn't even let me see what it said..."

"My family! THEY TOOK THEM AWAY!"

"..."

"This was supposed to be a goddamned VACATION!"

"H, hey..."

John Doe started to breathe at a very fast rate, as if trying to keep himself calm. All Jane could do to offer some comfort was to give the poor soul a hug. John started to sniff, but he tried very hard not to show that he wanted to cry. Jane simply said that it was okay to let it all out... So he did, in the end, cry.

** Other Side **

"Sir Darchrow, I think that was a bit too cruel."

"They're not dead."

"Still... They're just kids."

"They need to learn to get out of these affairs, then."

"Doing what you did is just going to aggravate them more, with all due respect, sir."

"Eh, whatever. I dispatched everyone else to see what those damn people are up to, ruining the balance."

"Balance, you say...? What do you mean...?"

"What was that, dear?"

"Ah, nothing, sir."

Gatekeeper Lion
Lion had stuck rather inconspicuously to a group of idling vendors, and simply watched some random idle chatter between Esifex and Fishy, who were busy vending their own goods. He looked rather impatient and kept shooting annoyed emotes, as if he wanted something to happen already. He was also checking the GATE guild chat, wherein there was a discussion between GM Darchrow and his fellow Gatekeeper, Beatrice. It's not like Beatrice to say things like that to Sir Darchrow... besides, aren't they dating in real life? he thought. They usually agree with each other... But something's not right. Does it have something to do with those kids? I'd ask, but I'd seem traitorous. Geez, it's so annoying to be curious sometimes. While he was musing in his idle thoughts, he saw someone from The Meido Brigade log on. It was Hime. Hime immediately sat down at the square and left a chatroom prompt which was named: "AFK, busy with private affairs, leave a message." Lion became even more curious. This guy... I think I've seen him around... In THOSE places... Maybe that's why he has so many connections... Hmm...

Gatekeeper Shou
Shou was sitting in the open right by the cliffside in Lighthalzen, that overlooked the city, and led to the labs. Kurobara, Drake and Helepolis could be seen discussing issues with one another, while Shou overlooked them from above, sitting on the cliff. They were talking about the state of The Meido Brigade, and noted the strange behavior of Hime, the fact that Purvis, Jana and Baitums were all busy around the time the contest was slated to take place, and the fact that the Gatekeepers are all trying to stalk them. At the word "stalk," which Shou could hear very clearly, he chuckled softly. He typed some messages to a fellow Gatekeeper back in Prontera who was stationed with Lion, the Gatekeeper Aocona. He asked Aocona how Hime was doing. Apparently, Aocona is connected to Hime in some manner. Meanwhile, Shou also sent a whisper to Kurobara. An exchange occurred.

"It's you again?"

"Yes, miss. Me again."

"What do you want?"

"Are you sure you want to take part in the contest?"

"Yes."

"You realize the repercussions of this, right?"

"Yes."

"I'd worry about the wellbeing of your friends."

"..."

Kurobara stopped responding after that. Shou wasn't entirely sure if he got ignored or blocked or not, but either way, his task was finished. He utilized the @warp command to a secret location where he was to report to GM Darchrow about his findings.

Gatekeeper Aocona
Aocona was one of the very first players on KaleidoscopeRO. Nobody really knows who she is, not even GM Darchrow is sure on the details himself, though he does know that she is a definite asset in his squad of Gatekeepers. Aocona is one of the only players to be of the third job class, too. She is a Wanderer. She looked at Lion across the sidewalk and smiled, shooting a heart emote. Lion wasn't sure if she was fooling around or if she was drawing attention to herself. He sighed. Meanwhile, Aocona paid close attention to Hime's away-from-keyboard message. That boy, he's gonna get himself killed if he keeps this up. You're trying so hard to make ends meet, you're gonna hurt yourself more and more. But you enjoy it anyway, you sick freak. Aocona thought as she giggled to herself. She typed a message into the chatroom. "Hey, there. It's me again. I hope you're enjoying yourself. You still owe me money." It was unsure of this current moment where Hime was, but Aocona wasn't worried at all. She had spies, anyway.

Gatekeeper Beatrice
Beatrice was with GM Darchrow, talking about the recent events.

"Hmm, I don't see what's wrong with them..."

"I sense big things coming from them."

"..."

"Yeah, I fear that if they get too big... Something bad's going to happen to not only them, but us, too."

"You DO know that we all live in the same area, right?"

"Exactly."

"You've been getting ominous messages from him, haven't you?"

"..."

"Sweetie... I'll stick with you to the end."

"...Thank you."

[trancehime]

ACT 04 - MODERNISM STREET

** Other Side **

GM Darchrow
Darchrow had logged off of the server because he had many things he had to take care of. He received a text message from someone listed in his address list. It simply said "Slave" and the message said: Master, they are getting ready soon. I don't know if I can keep this up for much longer. Furthermore, Mistress Aocona is starting to harass me even more now. Please tell her to let up, or it gets in the way of my duties. Thanks. Darchrow frowned. Gatekeeper Aocona always had an eye for Darchrow's kid-slave... It was very unsettling for him, because it meant that indeed, he was unable to get some important information as efficiently as he would have liked. Soon, there was another text message. This one was from Aocona. Hey there, babes. Beatrice is busy right now, so she can't oversee your slave as she said she would~ So could I do it? Thanks! Darchrow was at the verge of applying palm to face, because he somehow knew this was going to happen. He remembered Beatrice telling him that she had to attend some sort of exam for her school affairs. Since he believed that the real world was more important than a game, he wasn't too worried... Yet, he also realized that what he was doing was a bit hypocritical. However, he had his reasons. He tried to strike a balance. He left his room and decided he needed to take a walk. He needed to think about what he was doing... There was someone who was very worrying.

Gatekeeper Aocona
Aocona was speaking to a character, a Gypsy, by the name of Elysian Slave. "You still owe me money." she said. Slave shot an angry emoticon. "I'm trying very hard, Mistress. I've been falling ill very recently..." Aocona stomped her foot on the ground and walked closer to Slave before smirking. She knew very well who this person was, and her role in aiding Darchrow. She figures her own personal debt should be handled later. "Well, okay, dear, but I'm keeping a close eye on you, because I feel that the longer you do this, the further away from us you become. Darchrow is relying on you to make sure everything's according to plan, understood? If you fail, I'll make it my personal responsibility to make sure you get the proper discipline, yeah?" Slave looked pretty sad and scared before uttering a simple "Yes, ma'am." Slave left the area and utilized @go in order to warp to another city, most likely the city she knew was the closest area her targets would be in.

** Side B **

Esifex and Fishy were hunting in the recesses of the Turtle Dungeon, most likely looking for certain cards that they wanted to add to their collection of cards. Hime was with them too, mostly to help them with healing and because he had nothing better to do at the time. While they were hunting, Hime asked Esifex and Fishy if they lived nearby, or if they lived far away from the server. They answered the former, which made Hime think about a number of things. First of all, Hime didn't have much time to play because he had work. This meant he spent more time visiting his friends who played the game rather than actually playing the game itself. This sort of behavior worried Kurobara, but in the end she let it pass because lacking a Priest would severely detriment the power of the Meido Brigade. This behavior also made both Helepolis and Drake a little suspicious. Helepolis, as Topchef, was Hime's roommate and would often notice his late nights and his tendency to fall rather ill. He was a little worried but would always be shaken off by a "I'm fine" and "Let me rest." After some idle hunting, Esifex gasped as he saw the Turtle General.

"Holy shit, man." he said.

"It's the Turtle General, all right."

"You two aren't seriously going to try and take him on alone, are you?"

"Of course not. That's why we have backup."

"Back... up?"

At the word "backup," two mercenary-like figures warped into the fray. KaleidoscopeRO had enabled Mercenary summon scrolls, which summoned a friendly fighting unit; its class depended on the scroll type. They both had Knight scrolls on them, and they were extremely high level. Each instance of Spiral Pierce they threw out heavily damaged the mighty General, and soon, Esifex revealed his capability on battle. You see, he had decided to Plagiarize Monk skills for maximal DPS output. He did not need to Double Strafe! All he needed to do was hit the Attack command, point his trusty Composite Bow of Quadruple Liberation +10 at the General and simply watch the many instances of Triple Attack happen, as numbers and criticals flew everywhere across the screen. Hime was making sure nobody died, and kept applying constant buffs. Luckily, his gear was accustomed to hardcore support, as he was very used to being the sole Priest in any hunting and/or MVPing party. The General growled as it retaliated with a powerful burst of energy from its stout, stubby arms, and it exploded outwards, pushing everyone back a good distance. It's Level 20 Magnum Break. Fishy thought. I thought it would be a bit stronger, but the Alice-carded Buckler helps a lot. After a lot of repetitive shooting and healing, the General went down... It was rather unclimactic, but unsurprising, as the Turtle General never had a lot of life in the first place. Esifex, was, also unsurprisingly, the MVP of the fight, and received a multitude of loot, but something caught his eye.

Player 'Esifex' obtained 'Turtle General Card!' (0.01%)

"Holy shit, Fishy! Would you look at that!"

"It's a Turtle General Card."

"..."

"HOLY SHIT!"

"You said it."

Everyone warped back to Prontera. Kurobara was waiting there, sitting by the fountain. She ignored Esifex and Fishy celebrating their loot, and instantly attempted to confront Hime through Guild Chat. Hime shot a very worried emoticon, as if something weird was going on.

"Helepolis told me."

"A, a, about what?"

"Your job, everything."

"..."

"We can't do this contest and get it right without you."

"I... I know..."

"You have to hold off on it, even just for a week. Even just for the week of the contest."

"A, a, alright..."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Hime turned away and mentioned that he was going to be away from the keyboard for a bit. Helepolis confirmed this as he mentioned Hime was going to go get himself an early dinner, as he was very hungry. He looked rather concerned as he went towards Kurobara, having just restocked up on items from the shop.

"I think..."

"You think what?"

"...Never mind. Give me some more time."

"Heh. Very well."

"I worry about that kid sometimes..."

"Me too."

"Oh well. We're going to Hell for this anyway."

"I like the way you think."

[Sana]

One of these days, you'll run out of MBAA song titles :V

[Esifex]

(Triple Liberating Hybrid Compound Bow +10)

For Double Attack with a bow! Wheeeeeeeeeee

[Kiro]

Never heard of a Stalker with a Triple Attack build; does it actually do enough dmg to be more than a "for the lulz" build?

And I'm glad you're playing on a low rate server too. =s

[RainfallYoshi]

It was, and probably still is, a very good PvE build. A combination of elemental arrows and some aspd boosting will do some impressive DPS. It was even more awesome before they decided to nerf the Sidewinder card. *grumbles*

[Esifex]

It was even more awesome before they decided to nerf the Sidewinder card. *grumbles*

Which is why I always check to see if the Sidewinder card still works in bows before I pick a server~

Yaaaaay pservers~

[trancehime]

back due to popular demand, happy new year!


ACT 05 - OBSCURE ZONE

** Side A **

John Doe was on a rage, and he was looking for answers. Jane Doe decided to stay with John for the remainder of his stay here, for she couldn't bear to witness seeing the poor fellow in any more pain than he was already suffering. John Doe had quickly established a new character on the KaleidoscopeRO server, under a new account, using fake details. He was on the lookout for answers regarding his kidnapped family. He knew that they were still alive, especially given that Jane Doe was taken to him, as well. It was as if this affair had turned into a game. His characters were usually built on dealing damage, so people would know if it were him. So this time, he made a strange choice, he ended up creating a Soul Linker. Nobody would know it was really him, so it was a good choice. Jane Doe just decided to play the caretaker this time aruond. She needed to make sure John didn't do anything completely stupid or out of the blue. John Doe then spotted Elysian Slave walking around in the warp area of Morroc, as he was passing by the vends. John Doe spent some moments to remember the appearance of the Gypsy, shortly before said character warped away, possibly to another location, or logged off.

Jane Doe was asking John what he saw, and he simply shook his head. Soon, he got a whisper from some character with gibberish for a name. At least, it was gibberish to John. The name appeared something like "Rhxcbrow77." The mystery person was asking John Doe's character if he was actually John Doe, to which the boy responded "no," and soon the guy who whispered him let out an expression of dismay, and soon appeared beside the character. Rhxcbrow77 looked at John Doe's character and let out a "question mark" emote, and said simply "You lied." and soon stood there. "Well, don't you have things to ask?" the man continued. John Doe tilted his head and began to ask his questions. But with the answers that he got, came even more questions. Rhxcbrow77 started to lose his patience and looked away. "Boy, you have too many questions. Just find them. They are preparing for the challenge in Prontera. Go quickly."

John Doe sighed as the man warped away.

** Other Side **

Elysian Slave
Slave had an "afk" bar on top of her head as if she were idling, but she was in fact eavesdropping on the conversation between Rhxcbrow77 and John Doe's new character. When John Doe had seen her warp away, she was simply just using a Fly Wing. She walked to a spot away from John Doe and did what she did. Slave sent a whisper to GM Darchrow mentioning that there was a certain John Doe looking for answers about his parents. Now that he was really going to get involved, things would needed to be changed according to plan. Slave expressed her grievances with what she saw, but she had no choice but to report. Soon, she got a whisper from Aocona expressing her gratitude for performing well on the reconaissance front. She continued to ease in on the conversation, and learned many things, continuing to report to the GM. Something was happening. She suspected that something important was going to happen.

Gatekeeper Aocona
Aocona smiled as she received affirmative reports from Slave, and soon she stopped her business lounging around in Payon, where there were a bunch of random people doing their merrymaking, vending and trading. Soon, she eyed a secret part of the town where people were duelling. There would normally be no problem with this except duelling is banned on the server, because there were warpers who could easily take one to the maps where player versus player battles could be held. There was a black market, underground business on the server revolving around these duels where people would bet Zeny to trusted matchmakers, and they would watch duels occur. Aocona stepped into the arena and made an annoyed emote. Some of the onlookers noted the presence of a "[GK] Aocona," and soon most of them warped away, leaving the duelists in place, and soon they stopped after seeing her, too. Aocona sighed and said "Well, at least you two fools had the decency to stay here. You two are getting jail time. The other onlookers are banned. Thank me for being nice." Then, Aocona sent the two duellers to the Jail, and warped away to deal with those who ran away from the scene of the crime.

GM Darchrow
Darchrow looked at his list of messages. Ultimately, his reasons for doing what he did to that single guild seemed to extend to something bigger. He cared for the server, and inside, he wasn't such a bad person. But something, someONE, drove him to do this. He sighed to himself as he stepped away from the computer he was on, leaving his character idling somewhere in Lighthalzen, and soon did some text messaging with Gatekeeper Beatrice. While he was typing a message, he seemed to have received one from an ominous name. He read the message. Good sir, I appreciate your dedication to the server. But you are running out of time. You'd better do something about them. If you tell the truth, I will come over there and gut you. Personally The message seemed to cut abruptly, and this message scared Darchrow more than ever. He quickly got on the computer and warped his character to Kurobara, to initiate a 1:1 whisper.

** Side B **

Kurobara
Kurobara noticed that GM Darchrow had ominously warped nearby to her in Moscovia, and soon she responded to his whisper. It was a good opportunity for her to clear many things up with the recent events that had transpired.

"GM, what do you want?"

"Ma'am, I'd like to personally apologize about the hostile behavior you and your guild have been suffering under our administration."

"Why the apology all of a sudden?"

"The condition of the server, and my own condition, are being significantly compromised by this one meeting with you, so please believe me."

"...I'm not sure I can trust you."

"Believe me, miss, I understand your sentiment completely. We've pretty much been dicks to you. I've ordered a lot of my subordinates to spy on you guys. We didn't mean it because we hated you. We respect your strength as a guild in such small numbers. However, there is someone in the place we all live in that is threatening to cut off my connections to the server because he wants to establish his own one."

"Wow, that's a bit much information."

"It's a lot to take in. But I'm afraid you're going to have to round up your friends and assist me on this. I'm telling all the Gatekeepers to lay off. A certain guy who calls himself John Doe and his friend Jane Doe are getting themselves involved, too. I'll fix their situations, too. So please help us out."

"I'll discuss it with the others."

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to speak with you all again. At least I have a gun in case something really happens. Godspeed, Miss Kurobara. I look forward to discussing matters with you again."

Soon, GM Darchrow logged off and Kurobara immediately changed the guild's message of the day into something very alarming and urgent. "EVERYONE, PLEASE HAVE A MEETING TOMORROW AT NOON! WE ARE DISCUSSING VERY IMPORTANT MATTERS! FORGO THE CONTEST, WE WILL SUFFER MASSIVE REPERCUSSIONS IF WE DO NOT TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY! Thank you." And quickly, she logged off herself. Many of the guild members could be seen logging off too. The only one who remained online was Hime.

Hime
Topchef was around, but he was probably taking a shower. So while Hime waited for Topchef, he was still online. He noted the other members of the guild logging off, as well, but soon received a whisper from Gatekeeper Aocona. "Well done, shmuck."

"What do you want?"

"You did very well."

"...Please leave me alone."

"You and your friends are fine, now. Darchrow has given us explicit orders to treat you as friends of ours, now. I know Lion has a crush on a bunch of you folk, anyway. He's a hound like that."

"This isn't funny."

"I have my own plans for you, anyway."

"Huh?"

"Once this is all over."

"What do you mean?"

"Well..."

And soon, Topchef left the shower and said it was time to prepare dinner. Hime sighed. "Forget it, Miss Aocona. We can talk later. I have to go."

Soon, Hime logged off too.

The last message that was left before Hime logged off...

"You have a stalker."

[Dragoshi]

Hoo boy. This is all just p. intense and interesting. Can't wait to see more of this. Excellent work and all that.

[Chaore]

...always trance who gets the creepers after all, ainnit? :V

[Dragoshi]

it's a universal constant. no matter where trancypoo goes, he'll always attract the creepers. My hypothesis is that he has a creeper attraction gene.

Yeah, I remember that. It's like. Trance was just naturally born with a high Creeper Attractivenes Quotient. Or something. It does lead to some hilarious results, though. Albeit awkward, but still.

But, yeah. That aside. It's somethin' alright

[trancehime]

ACT 06 - TROUBLESOME VISITOR

** Other Side **

Elysian Slave
Slave was sitting around in Prontera talking to the various random players who also idled and sat around. Prontera was a common chatting ground for both veterans and newbies alike, and it was Slave's ruling ground. She was one of those who was always around, dispensing helpful information to anyone who asked for it. It was her job to do so, she served as a rumormonger of sorts, gathering information on players she and/or the other Gatekeepers deemed as "anomalous" or "dubious." It seemed that at the current juncture, Slave had noticed a strange person who had gibberish for a name. Upon further inspection, it was the Rhxcbrow77 person she eavesdropped on earlier, and she noted his presence. She also managed to find out that Rhxcbrow77 was a shady looking Assassin Cross who got his hands on a Donation Item, "Lighthalzen Aura." It made him look like he emit the same demonic smoke the experimental genetic creations in the Lighthalzen Somatic Labs did. Rhxcbrow77 soon approached Slave and sat next to her.

"How are you today?" he asked.

"Um... I'm fine?

"Expect a visitor later."

"Huh...?"

"Right, gotta run. Something came up. Be careful, 'woman.'"

Rhxcbrow77 suddenly logged out, leaving Slave with a rather ominous message.

** Side A **

John Doe and Jane Doe heard the phone ring nearby. John quickly went over to pick it up, and the voice on the other side was one he did not really recognize. However, John's expression scrunched up when he learned who had just called him.

"I'm sorry."

"What did you do to them?!"

"They're safe. They will be returning to you later today."

"...Huh?"

"Did a guy called Rhxcbrow77 talk to you at some point?"

"Y... Yeah."

"He's dangerous. Don't listen to him. I know who he is. The reason for your parents being with us is because, well, he's going to kill me if I let him. So I needed to save myself first by doing these things and making him think I'm scared. He's crafty, but he doesn't have the technology to tap lines."

"I see."

"May I speak to your friend?"

"Okay."

John Doe quickly passed the phone over to Jane. "Hello?"

"Hi, ma'am."

"Why do you need to talk to me?"

"You're better in control of yourself than your boyfriend. I want you to take care of him. Don't mind that I did some pretty bad things... It was not my intent, I am not really like that. I am in a similar position as you, as well. Please keep him safe. You two are important here. Try and co-operate with the Meido Brigade if you see them. They live in the area."

"Alright."

"Thanks. Send any of the Gatekeepers you see around my regards. I may not be able to see them again."

"..."

Then, silence...

...

** Side B **

Arashi Kurobara had gathered everyone to Moscovia to discuss some important things regarding their current state in this "crisis." Hime was the only one of the people present sitting down. Topchef was elsewhere, apparently. He attended the ongoing meeting for a good while but said he had to leave. Hime indeed confirmed this and saw him setting AFK status on his character. Kurobara disseminated the relevant information to everyone, which sent them into a bit of a frenzy. People did not really know how to react to such a revelation. After some time, Hime decided to ask if anyone present saw a strange, shady figure roaming the streets outside. Nobody could answer, really, except Kurobara, who inquired on a particular reason for the question. Hime could only shake his head and say "I wish I knew."

Hime
Hime was in his room attending the meeting online, however, he could hear the doorbell ring. He sighed and wandered off to the door, before he went, he sent a message saying he would be back shortly. However, some words in the back of his mind rang pretty handily, he did not really wish to think of it. He spent a moment standing in front of the door, wondering who was behind it, and so he opened it. Hime could only stare at the person in front of him, some sort of muscular man probably a head taller than he was, and he smiled with some sort of sadistic pleasure. Hime was visibly terrified, and quickly tried to shut the door on the strange visitor, but the man was faster and stronger, stopping Hime from closing the door. Hime fell backwards and tried to get up, but instead was kicked again back inside by the man, who left the door open and approached him.

Hime shuffled backwards, crawling quite fast to try and get inside his room and lock himself in. But the man was fast, as well. Hime did manage to make it back to his room, but the man did as well. Hime looked like he would cry.

"W, what do you want from me? Who are you?" he said weakly, trying to stand up, but was knocked aside.

The man remained silent and started salivating.

"What are you doing? Why are you looking at me like that?"

...

...

"N, no! Stop!"

...

"P, please!! Th, that hurts...!! Stop!!! Don't look there!!"

...

"Noooooooooo!"

Few moments later, the a chat room icon appeared above Hime's character's head...

"AFK (possibly forever)"

[Chaore]

...I...what... :ohdear: