"Hell? Far from it! Don't worry, you're still alive. You're actually in Vivi-Dream, a dream world that connects several people in the world to this one location. Some of us are just asleep, others are unconscious, and even some are in a coma, but how you get here is irrelevant," Lin explained. "We appear in this world as characters called Oneiros, and our appearances are based upon our life experiences, interests and personalities. Then we're tasked with investigating 'zones' outside of this main city Remniche; the harmless ones are permanent, but some of them are festering with negative emotions that some dreamers haven't resolved in their lives. If that negativity isn't resolved and it spreads too wide, all of Vivi-Dream - and thus everyone residing inside it - will be affected. You'll wake up to find yourself experiencing somebody else's fears and memories, and maybe they'll experience yours as well. Imagine what would happen if hundreds of people were afflicted at once!

"So that's where we come in. We go to these zones and find the cause of the negative energy by finding an 'artifact' connected to those feelings and purifying it. Voila! The dreamer will wake up feeling refreshed, and the negative zone disappears. Problem solved," Lin nodded proudly. "My museum here houses a bunch of artifacts that my partner and I found during our adventures. Speaking of which, my name's Lin, and this lil' shrimp is Hez." 

Lin patted Hez's head, but the short-statured girl pulled her hood up bashfully. "She's not able to talk, so don't be upset if she doesn't answer any questions. She'll tell me what she wants to say, and then I'll translate it for her. It's sort of a mental connection we have, but I don't know why that is. 

"Oh well, don't let it bother you. Let's just focus on dealing with this really weird dungeon. For some reason, three 'zones' are fusing into one, and that's never [i]ever[/i] happened before. You might be new, but don't think this type of accident is par for the course. Usually we just deal with one zone at a time, so dealing with three may require a big group like this to work together. Well, you'll see what I mean shortly."

Lin finished her incessant chattering, always eager to provide so much information to newcomers that it would make them dizzy. She glanced around at the others, waiting to hear their introductions.