Anza

Suddenly, My Favorite MMORPG has Become Real?! — A Log Horizon-inspired RP

Ping! Ping! Ping! More requests kept popping up on Viri's little screen, replacing one another at fast as she could accept them. She made sure to look each one over before hitting any buttons, but there was nothing strange or suspicious in there, just more 'friend' links from the group at large and a party request from Deneb. The ninja girl wasn't wasting any time, it seemed.

She took her leave, and Viri moved to follow, offering a little wave of farewell to the hunting-and-infrastructure group. Even if they weren't all working directly together, to see this much cooperation so early on had raised her spirits. Yes, the situation was strange and possibly dire, but at least everyone was taking their own small steps to deal with it. The thought made her smile, if only for a moment.

Now a little more used to her avatar's long and slender legs, she quickly caught up to her party leader and peered over Deneb's shoulder at the minimap.

"Viridian... Was it?"

"Um." She paused to consider. "Well, yes, but that's a bit of a mouthful, isn't it? Call me Viri." A short nickname would be easier. And sounded cuter. Not that that last bit mattered. "And I've been hiking, but..." She glanced down at her body, and her clothes. Pretty shoes, thin legs, and hair long enough to trip over. Not an ideal combination, though at least she still had her staff to lean on.

"...but that was back in my original body, with proper gear, so I'm not sure how it would work out now." She frowned, staring into space. "Everything's carried over from the game, hasn't it? So 'attributes' might be one of those things. And my character's a support, so my endurance and stamina didn't get much focus." She bit her lip, still thinking. "Hmmm. If I can figure out how spellcasting works, I should be able to temporarily increase those?"

@PKMNB0Y

Mahou Shoujo no Hex Night: A Magical Girl Battle RP

Sonya? Tokiko frowned at that. The name sounded foreign, but oddly familiar. Hikari's in the year below her? If she knows Hikari, then there's a chance she knows me as a civilian as well... Perhaps Tokiko ought to start paying more attention to what went on in school. She'd known there were plenty of other magical girls in Tokyo, but she'd never have imagined their civilian lives would run so close to one another.

Still, right now they were all in magical girl form, and going about magical business. It would be rude to inquire about Sonya's real identity at a time like this, especially since they'd only just met. Instead, Tokiko needed to figure out how to play the situation to her advantage.

"Who were you fighting anyway? And which way did they go? You look winded but I should be able to finish them off.”

"Oh, that was just Tsukimi and Naoko," she answered quickly, before Hikari could get a word in. "They're B-tier at best, so they have to rely on scummy tactics like ambushes to get their way." She pointed up at the rooftops, in the rough direction that the two enemy magical girls had fled. "They ran off that way after we beat the crap out of them. Naoko's pretty fast, but she was carrying Tsukimi when she left, so that should weigh her down a bit." She flashed a wicked smile. "You can probably still catch them, if you leave now. Normally I'd get mad over someone stealing my wins, but those two pissed me off enough that I'd be happy to let you have them."

@VitaVitaAR@TheFake

Suddenly, My Favorite MMORPG has Become Real?! — A Log Horizon-inspired RP

By this point, there were so many people talking, Viri couldn't keep track of them anymore. As minor revelations and eager suggestions were flung back and forth with wild abandon, a chorus of voices deep and high mixing amidst a menagerie of strange and colorful figures, she tried to pick out the key points.

Map and inventory. More functions that had been carried over to this world from the game. By this point, it seemed best to assume that anything a player could do in the game could carry over to the new world, which led to some intriguing possibilities. Can we control volume? What about cheating— will 'bots' and 'hacks' have carried over, or can they be replicated? It was reassuring, at least, that the dragon man in particular seemed to know a lot about the game's background story; that could come in handy when it came to positioning themselves within this new world.

From the sound of it, food and drink here worked more or less like they did elsewhere, and would probably be just as necessary for health and survival. 'Danongorf' seemed set on seeing to that need. Following his initial suggestion came volunteers for his cause, along with some other possible courses of action.

Viri's train of thought was suddenly interrupted as a screen suddenly flashed into existence before her eyes. A... friend request? Tentatively, she reached out with one finger and prodded the [ACCEPT] button. The screen flashed, now showing a green check mark next to the name 'Deneb' and a small thumbnail of the associated avatar. So this is how the game functions work in this world...

"So," she said, managing to get a few words in amidst the flurry of conversation, "what I'm hearing is that we want to divide into primary groups, to handle our immediate concerns? One to hunt for food and make sure we don't go hungry, another to scout the landscape for possible clues or problems." Using the libraries was a good suggestion as well, but trawling through whatever texts they held seemed less urgent than observing the immediate situation, the lay of the land.

"In that case," she said, walking to Deneb's side, "I'll follow you. My character isn't much good at hunting or physical labor, but I'm interested to see if there are any exceptions to our current knowledge— places this world differs from the game we knew." The mention of safety struck her as important as well. If she really did have all her character's former abilities, then her talents would be well-suited for safeguarding against threats and keeping everyone alive.

@PKMNB0Y@DocRock@Rabidporcupine@Bone Father@Saarebas

Mahou Shoujo no Hex Night: A Magical Girl Battle RP

At least the newcomer didn't seem to be trying to attack them, though Tokiko still thought she looked kind of scary. The mad scientist crossed her arms, and kept a wary eye on the black-clad stranger, interjecting only a quiet hmph of disagreement at the implication that she might be in any way 'easy.' Anyone ought to know: Tokiko was a very difficult magical girl indeed!

At least all this chatting meant Hikari was getting up to date, and hopefully wouldn't accidentally end up in any more dangerous situations. Not that I'd care, Tokiko thought sullenly. The next time she saw that girl getting attacked, she'd definitely just leave her. If they even saw each other again.

"No one is killed," she added as the fairy explained, "but some of us can get hurt, like you just saw. And now you're involved in all that." She groaned aloud. "I went out of my way to protect you, but instead you've become a magical girl and gotten yourself into even more trouble! You dummy..."

Hikari wasn't the only irritation, though. "And what's your deal?" she asked the unknown magical girl. "If you're not here to fight us, then why reveal yourself like this? Are you looking to team up or something?"

@VitaVitaAR@TheFake

Suddenly, My Favorite MMORPG has Become Real?! — A Log Horizon-inspired RP

One, two, three, four... Goodness! Now that she'd found one person, others kept popping up like rabbits, gathering around them and chiming in on the conversation. It made sense: humans were social creatures by nature, and their first response in a time of crisis was often to seek out others, relying on strength of numbers for safety and support. Even in a strange world or virtual reality like whatever this was, the old instincts prevailed.

Yoriko— or is my name Viridian now? —raised a hand, palm outwards, at the newest arrival, a blue-skinned man even larger than the orc. "Please, don't shout. I know we're all probably very... shocked by this development, but that's exactly why we need to consider our choices carefully." There lay the darker side of human instinct: fear, panic, fight-or-flight responses. Any sustainable cooperation would require everyone to control themselves, to rely on their knowledge and wits rather than raw emotions.

Deneb, at least, seemed to get the idea. Viridian wasn't quite sure what 'isekai series' the girl might be talking about, but she seemed to have a solid sense of the situation, and might even have figured out more than she herself had. 'Skills and abilities' was another thing she could add to the list of what had been copied over, although how she might use her avatar's healing powers without any buttons to press remained a mystery.

Regardless, Deneb had raised another good question, and Viridian already had an answer in mind. "You said it yourself: the problem is our lack of knowledge. So the first thing we should do is try to solve that." She gestured around at all of the gathered players. "As our avatars, do we need to eat or drink? Do we sleep? If we can use our old skills and abilities, can we improve them just as we used to?" She smiled. "There are dozens more questions, but I'm sure I can trust you to imagine the rest on your own. We need to experiment, explore, and share information. Work out what we need to survive here, what the greatest threats might be, and how this whole situation came about."

@Saarebas@PKMNB0Y@Bone Father@Rabidporcupine

Suddenly, My Favorite MMORPG has Become Real?! — A Log Horizon-inspired RP

Viridian? Yoriko recognized it as her avatar's name, but even so it was jarring to hear herself being addressed in such a manner. For that matter, how did this person know that name? The little girl seemed to know a great many other things, in fact: her class, her level, and a bunch of jargon Yoriko couldn't understand but knew was related to her activities in Emerald Odyssey. That was another piece of evidence supporting her hypothesis about the situation being related to the game, at least. Not only had the game world and her virtual body been somehow made real, but information about her in-game actions and statistics had somehow been carried over as well.

A thoughtful look flitted across her face as she considered it all. Then she suddenly turned, eyes widening, as her long and fluffy ears picked up the thumping footsteps of someone else approaching.

That old sense of familiarity was back, though less powerful than before: she recognized this figure. Or rather, she recognized his race: that green skin and towering height were characteristic of Odyssey's Orc species, a popular archetype for male characters. She'd played with some of them before, in fact, though she couldn't for the life of her remember all their names. Avatar, world, character data, races... and from the way he was talking, she could guess that this Danongorf person might well be in a similar situation to her.

A new hypothesis, then: she and other players had been transported, copied, or otherwise transplanted to a faithful and detailed recreation of the game Emerald Odyssey. She'd work on confirming this for now, and then get to the how and why.

"Danongorf, Deneb," she said, looking back and forth between the two strange individuals, "Yes, I do have a question. Questions, actually: you two are—or were—humans, correct? From the nation of Japan? And you're both aware of what 'Emerald Odyssey' is or was?"

Just as she was asking her question, however, another one showed up— and her words of alarm all but confirmed Yoriko's suspicions.

"There, there." She stepped towards the newcomer, raising her arms to placate her. "Calm down. You're from Japan too, right? Can you remember anything about how you got here?"

@PKMNB0Y@Rabidporcupine@Bone Father

Suddenly, My Favorite MMORPG has Become Real?! — A Log Horizon-inspired RP

Where am I, and how did I get this stick?

That was Yoriko's first thought as she opened her eyes to behold a quaint medieval town, and the crystal-tipped black staff she now held in her hands. Her second thought was Hold on, this looks familiar, followed shortly by: Oh. Oh dear.

She turned her head to take in her surroundings, and found that the motion itself felt heavy. Hair, she realized, I'm being weighed down by hair. Raising one hand to feel around the back of her head confirmed this: she had hair, and it was long, long to the point of being almost absurd. Looking down, she could even see a few silver strands sweeping around her feet. Just how long have I been asleep?

Then again, her hair had never been that color, and this fact, combined with the familiarity of her little stick and her current environs, led her to a hypothesis. And to confirm it... She felt about the top of her scalp, and there indeed were a pair of stiff, curling horns, emerging from the skin just above her hairline.

Well. That was one question answered. Which led her to another: How in the heavens did this happen?

For the moment, she decided, she wouldn't worry about it. Coming up with pointless theories without any evidence would only be a waste of time; she'd need to look for clues to come to any reasonable conclusion as to the nature of her displacement. The important thing was not to panic. Panicking never helped. She needed to start moving around, to figure out the situation, her needs, and any threats she might as of yet be unaware of.

Off we go, then... She took a step, stumbled, and nearly fell flat on her face.

Her body, which could only have been based on her character Viridian Daeva, took a bit of getting used to. For one thing, she was taller and had different proportions, and for another her hair now went down all the way to her feet, which made it quite difficult not to trip up. For the next few steps, she leaned on her staff for support, slowly working out how to balance in this new (and, she admitted, rather poorly designed) physical form. If she'd known this was going to happen, perhaps she'd have made her avatar more practical...

Her shoes clacked gently against the cobblestones and she made her way down the street, going from a hobble to a walk and a walk to a stride as she acclimated more and more. The town seemed mostly deserted, the roads and benches all empty, the doors closed and windows shuttered up... perhaps she ought to try and get in one of the buildings. Even if there was nobody there, it would at least give her shelter.

No, wait, there was someone. A girl (And quite an adorable one, Yoriko thought to herself) in fantastical black-and-white cloth with segments of armor at her hips, sitting on a bench and looking quite thoughtful. Who this was, Yoriko had no idea, but perhaps she'd know something. If not, well, two people could solve a mystery quicker than one...

"Hello?" The tall demon woman raised a hand and waved. "Hello there? Could you spare a moment?" The rather polite and conventional greeting felt out of place in this strange setting, but she wasn't sure what else to say. Is that even a real person?

@PKMNB0Y

Mahou Shoujo no Hex Night: A Magical Girl Battle RP

"Would you prefer if I just sat and watched while you got overwhelmed and beat up?!"

"Hmph!" Tokiko crossed her arms and raised her chin, looking down at the shorter girl from beneath the rims of her glasses. "Saying something like that just shows how little you know. Even if they teamed up against me, I'd never lose to an enemy of that level." She paused, glancing away. "T-though... I mean... I guess it's nice that you wanted to help..."

Her mumbling was interrupted as her Archetype suddenly growled, and Tokiko turned around to find that someone else had arrived on the scene. Instantly, her mean expression was back. "What, are you going to attack her as well?" Her eyes narrowed. "Go on, try it. I'll wipe the floor with you just like I did with those other two jerks!"

@TheFake@VitaVitaAR

Suddenly, My Favorite MMORPG has Become Real?! — A Log Horizon-inspired RP

There's still a very distinct lack of a tank in our cast.

@PKMNB0Y

If you're okay with multiple characters I could also write up a tank?

Suddenly, My Favorite MMORPG has Become Real?! — A Log Horizon-inspired RP

Name (Former): Kai Yoriko
Name (Character): Viridian Daeva
Age: 27
Appearance: "Hmm? Is there a problem?"
Her character model (including horns) is about 6'2''
Character Level: 60
Character Class: Cleric
Personality: Viridian (or ‘Viri’ for short) is a casual in every sense of the word. Before getting stuck in the game she was the kind of person who’d only log in once or twice a week for an hour or so at a time, and did whatever she felt was fun rather than seriously grinding at all. Rather than affiliating with any particular clique or guild, she’s fine partying with whoever needs a healer, though it can be hard to get her to stick around for more than a couple of dungeon runs at a time.
In spite of her class, or perhaps because of it, Viri is a woman of almost infinite patience. She’s very forgiving of people who make mistakes, and doesn’t seem to mind getting chewed out herself, though no amount of angry berating is likely to make her change her ways. She’ll sometimes gently scold people for being childish or petty, but in general is very mellow and relaxed. It’s hard to get her excited about anything, and hard to make her really angry or frustrated.
As a player she’s a fairly passive support, staying out of the fight and topping up health bars where needed. She’s effective enough at her role, but never really changes or adapts her tactics much, preferring to stick with the strategy that normally works rather than pushing herself to excel.
Abilities/skills: Even for a Cleric, Viri is heavily specced into healing and support, with virtually no damaging spells at all. She can throw ranged projectiles and area affects that restore health, create temporary magical barriers to eat enemy attacks, and command up to three small spirits to attach themselves to specific players or enemies to provide buffs and debuffs respectively. She also has a mobility spell that lets her teleport to an allied player after a short channel, a powerful regeneration buff that remains active so long as she’s in physical contact with the target, and a debuff cleanse applied through a kiss. Last but not least, she can revive a downed player with up to half of their maximum health, though doing this eats up all her mana and leaves her pretty much useless until it regenerates.
Backstory: Yoriko was never the kind of person who played video games much. She only got into Emerald Odyssey because one of her boyfriends was excited about its release and wanted to play it together. She ended up dumping him a couple months later, but by then she’d already made an account, and over the next few years she kept logging on from time to time whenever she felt like it, leveling up her character step by tiny step.
It was sheer coincidence that she logged on right before the release of the new expansion— she didn’t even know the expansion was coming that soon. All she wanted to do was relax for an hour with a silly game after a stressful day of work… but instead she got trapped in a fantasy world?! Ah, she wasn’t expecting something like this…
Other: She keeps quiet about her identity and occupation in the outside world, though it’s known that she at least has a degree of some sort. Her inventory is full of old items that she never uses or sells, including some quite rare ones that she doesn’t know the value of.