[Day: 4] [Time: Morning] [Weather: Snow]
>"Ah, the homecoming party. Well, mission successful. Akina and Haruko have been delivered back to the Outside World, and Byakuren and I have returned here." If they ask, "She wanted to rest and get back to her disciples back at her temple."
>"Well...now that that is over, I...really don't have much else to do. I think I might go sight-seeing around Gensokyo, seeing as I haven't had much of an opportunity yet. Although...I've had a rather restless time recently. Do you mind if I stay here at the shrine for a day? The Yatagarasu may be recharged, but there's only so much my human body can take in a short time."
>Think fondly on Haruko and our little adventure. It only took about two, maybe three days, but it felt...much longer.
[6] "Sure. Come on in."
You sit on the floor and lean against the wall, reminiscing about the past three days:
It all started when you found an antiquated laptop computer at a shrine on the eastern border of Gensokyo. Although this device seemed strange from the very moment you picked it up, you would have never expected it to be an important part of a grim and horrible incident that occured many weeks before your arrival. As you stood between the girl and the shrine maiden, you made a decision without much thought on your part. The young girl whom you saved from certain death introduced herself as Haruko Watsuki, whose father was slain as a result of crossing paths with the red-white miko. Just when you thought you found the perfect hiding place to spend the night, an accomplice of yours who stayed in front of the entrance to the hideout led the enemy right to you. You were ticked off, and as a result you executed a poorly-planned attack that led to your death and the destruction of the relic. As a ghostly spirit, you watched the helpless girl handing on to the last limb of life. At that moment, your perseverance allowed you to
use a continue harness the power of the Yatagarasu and take on its form, saving Haruko seconds before hundreds of needles skewer her broken body. As she fell into unconsciousness, you heed her advice and head to the Moriya Shrine, where its miracle-maker of a miko and two goddesses make use of everyone's faith in bringing her back to life. While that is happening, it is revealed that the other Watsuki is also in Gensokyo through the recollections of a comrade's dream. Things take a turn for the worse when Reimu returns, carrying the Goddess of Death within her, killing you once more and quite literally leaving Haruko gasping for air. If it wasn't for Patorikku's activation of the Pendant of Miracles, all hope would have been lost. With the maiden of the Hakurei Shrine knocked out and a once-again healthy Haruko, you leave for the Human Village, where Akyuu offers to shelter the two of you in the basement under her mansion. As you hide with the girl, Sanae's "advertisement" to the people of the village attracts not only the shrine maiden, but also a fearsome youkai that you understand is working with her in enforcing Gensokyo's oldest and most important rules with no exceptions. As a flashy exhibition of spell cards takes place in the skies above the village, you hurry to the Myouren Temple, where a long and emotional reunion between mother and daughter takes place. After hearing of a way to leave Gensokyo out of everyone's sight and convincing the older of the Watsukis that it's in their best interest to leave Gensokyo, you team up with the monk of the temple and send the family to their homeland. All in all, you died twice and experienced pain you'd never want to feel again just to save a girl and her mother. Was it worth it? If anything, you've proven to the world that you help doesn't need to have any prequisites except for a caring heart and a burning passion. No, really. Was it
really worth it? The Random Number God thanks you for your efforts and offers you the following achievement:
ACHIVEMENT UNLOCKED - Protector of the Innocent: Congratulations for reaching the first chapter's Good Ending! By sending Haruko and Akina to safety in the Outside World, you have been granted a Treasure!KEY ITEM ACQUIRED: Trump Card: The ultimate form of "f*ck it, let's get this done". Your next action will succeed unconditionally, as if you rolled a [4].
> "Huh... Well in that case, I have some other matters to attend to." Whatever those may be. Fighting Reimu is kind of a death wish, as you've figured out before. Revenge be damned, unless you're willing to risk permadeath to deliver the same onto her.
> Take off in some random direction away from the village, particularly away from the areas you've already explored. Avoid the bamboo forest, the mountain, the forest of magic, and of course the Hakurei Shrine. No, you wanna find some new environment to start up a new subplot encounter some new faces.
[2](+1) You don't have much options... In the far north is the Youkai Mountain, and to the immediate south is the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. To the east is the Hakurei Shrine, leaving the west as the only path worth taking. Along the way, the road splits into two paths. You remember that the left path leads to the Forest of Magic, so you take the right path in hopes of finding something new...
...There's a lake covered by a blanket of mist, and it seems the temperature has dropped even further by the time you're at the shore. Even the falling snow seems to increase in density. As you marvel at the scenery, a fairy flies towards you from behind and bunps into you. Normally, this wouldn't scare you too much, but the general paranoia that comes with being in an unknown place causes your legs to give. A thud echoes as you catch your fall with your hands, sending the fairy flying off into the distance.
>Flip metaphorical table in response to the ineffable nature of the universe
>"WHY DOES NOBODY LISTEN TO ME"
>Respawn in place and start complaining
>"I'M JUST AS CLUELESS AS YOU NOW WILL SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME STRAIGHT ANSWERS!"
[5] BONUS: Your next roll gets 1 added to it.
Reimu walks back to you and prepares to mercilessly stab you multiple times before Yukari grabs her hand.
"Don't kill her this time. With a bit of convincing, she might join us. Stay back, and let me handle it this time."
The shrine maiden growls as she steps back.
"Fine. But what if she doesn't listen?"
"Then I'll leave her fate for you to decide."
The gap youkai looks you right in the eyes and speaks in the way a mother would to her misbehaving child:
"Two humans that know of Gensokyo were just sent to the Outside World... DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?! Aarrrrrgh... this is why Outsiders like you are so annoying."
She places her left hand over your face and prepares to claw it beyond recognition before she realizes that you might be able to understand her reasoning.
"Do you think the death of two insignificant humans would mean
anything to anyone here besides you? You're in a paradise, sealed away from the corrupted world beyond its borders, where there exist things beyond your very limited knowledge: Gods, Youkai, Fairies, Ghosts, and extraordinary humans that are only spoken of in
legends where you come from. If proof of Gensokyo's existence spreads to the outside, people will begin to find its entrance. Once they enter, they will wage
war on us. When that happens, there will be enough bloodshed to paint every last bit of the ground crimson. Millions upon millions will die, and this land, that I've created and treasure, will disappear along with everything that depends on it... Now, I ask of you one favor: Will you bring them back to me, or will you face horrors beyond your worst nightmares?"
>Get up, I can brace myself next time.
>Can I make some spell cards, too?
if (canMakeSpellCards === true) {
makeSpellCards();
} else {
doTrainingForSpellCards();
}
[1] After creating a seemingly functional spell card, it misfires and instantly kills you.
You are dead.> At this rate, you're going to be Gensokyo's next EX boss Wow - with as many Spell Cards as you've accumulated, how can you lose? Then again, it seems like these terroristas aren't playing by the rules. Still, more firepower is better.
> Create Spell Cards (on the GOOD paper this time):
- Resonance "Infinite Harmonic Field" - Time: ∞ - Type: STANDARD
Begin firing aimed barrages of 3+2n bullets in 4+n directions - every wave is a new iteration, and each wave has higher speed. (i.e.: 5th wave of bullets would be faster than the 4th, and would be [n=5, 4+5 = 9] 9-directional, shooting [n=5, 3+2(5) = 13] 13 bullets in each direction.)
"A channeled attack which starts slow but builds up over time. If not stopped quickly, the attack can grow infinitely fast and essentially undodgeable." - Guidance "Dead-Eye Plasma Barrage" - Time: 60.00 - Type: STANDARD
Fire streams of bullets that sinusoidally oscillate between omnidirectional and a tight spread around the target, and fire superhot balls of plasma which are directed manually by magnetic pulses. To the untrained eye, they are simply homing in on the enemy. (Think "Cheeto" lasers.)
"Finding room to avoid arcing plasma that aims right for you is difficult when the walls are closing in around you tightly. Either make room, or die trying." - Disruption "Offensive Magnetolocation" - Time: 80.00 - Type: SURVIVAL
Encase the target in a magnetic field, and materialize a grid of bullets inside said field. Then shoot magnetic pulses that will send the bullets flying across the field and bouncing off the walls. If a pulse collides with the target, fire a high-speed stream of bullets their way.
"He's trapping you in his own personal magnetic radar system. Don't get caught by the sonar, or there'll be hell to pay." - "Bipolar Earth" - Time: 99.99+ - Type: FINAL
Encase the battlefield in a field with very strong positive and negative charges at each end. These charges are strong enough to attract even people (think final attack of SA, but on either side of you). Fire patterns of positive and negative bullets that will be drawn towards their opposite charge. Rampup as time/damage progresses.
"The world is split in two and, much like the real world, sticking to one side exclusively may not be the best option for you. If only you could change colors from white to black and back again..."
> Actively neglect to drink raw eggs. You don't even have eggs.
> query@(GM, Sanae): ability to shoot [magic?] bullets outside of Spell Cards; next mission for the Moriya Offensive.
"Hey, bigyihsuan - can I call you Big?... sorry for the whole - uh, yeah. You okay?
"What brings YOU to this crazy world, dare I ask?"
> Since nothing particularly eventful happens at this shrine (thankfully), now might be a good time to run a wide-range Maglocate. Look for trouble, relevant faces, so on, so forth. Report anything suspicious to your friendly neighborhood floating goddesses.
# If you're wondering why those cards are so specific... well, hell. These are totally legit Danmakufu fuel. Get on it, me.
[3] You can shoot magic bullets without resorting to spell cards. As mentioned earlier, they're used for recalling complicated or lesser-used spells.
There doesn't appear to be any quests or missions as of now. For some reason unknown to you, you can't sense those very far from where you are. In your immediate vicinity are the regulars of the Moriya Shrine. Along with them are an unmatched sock and bigyihsuan. That doesn't help much, because you can literally see them. The former seems to be reminiscing about the events that unfolded during the past few days, and the latter just killed himself
playing with magic. The farthest signs of life you can register seem to be nothing more than that of fairies.
I thought so... These would makeepic danmakufu attacks. Now, if only someone would code them...>Nod sagely. "Mhhm, I feel you. Anyone would cling to the tiniest chance to achieve power in a land like this... It seems like that, on the tiny bit that I caught on the village. But then, standing up to that to that tyrant miko... It is a bold decision from you, to silently show defiance with such pride."
>Speaking of silently, safety measures GO. Engage long-distance radar.
[3](+1) "Like I said, it's the only way for most humans to gain some degree of power in this land. I mean, most fairies and a few weaker youkai wouldn't stand a chance against me. If anything, it's proof that any regular human can pose a threat to those that wish to cause harm. That being said, anything beyond those are still something I'd be cautious of."
There doesn't seem to be anything that would pose a threat and is capable of reaching your current location within more than a few
turns hours.
Threat level: Very low((That's quite a few needles.))
>"Ah, I see. Then that lingers the question of who was Reimu after, and for what reason..." Examine the needles further to try and get information onto whom was attacked with these needles. Afterwards, proceed to head further north, past the location of the needles, to see what else this forest holds.
[2] The needles look like they hit the ground without passing through human flesh, as they're still shiny. After taking your leave and heading further north, you fail to find anything out of the ordinary beyond a mist-covered lake. These exist elsewhere, right?