Jedly

Deep Ground Online (Hiatus)

Spongewaves

Deep Ground Online (Hiatus)

Paper Moon

”Thanks champ.” Paper Moon said as he accepted the player’s hand before he made the small leap off of the metal support. With a quick pat on the back as a sign of gratitude, the two hurried over to Arms Slave and the rest of their group. There were a baker’s dozen, or a more befitting count, a devil’s dozen gathered in the remains of a plaza not too far from the city. The whole place was giving off a dismal vibe, which unfortunately complimented their current predicament. The assassin wasn’t in his usual chirpy state because of it. Paper Moon looked directly into Arms Slave’s gaze, completely disregarding the stark difference in their height, and finally let out a shallow breath. ”It’s not looking so good.”

---

Earlier:

”WAIT, YOU WANT TO DO WHA- ECK” The player yelled out in disbelief, barely quelled by Paper Moon’s attempts. ”Woah, woah, pal, calm down for a sec! I’m not ordering you here! ...I’m just asking you.” The guy was borderline hysterical, he obviously cared deeply about his EXP, after all he was on the lower end of the level spectrum. Suddenly, Moon placed both of his hands on the newbie’s cheeks, ”Hold up a sec, and take a breather, alright? Breathe in, breathe out.” The player obediently nodded, and still unaware of the fact that breathing affected him in no way whatsoever, yet the sentiment was still there. ”Okay, good. Now can you tell me what your name is? When you’re ready, that is.” His people skills were surely being put to the test here. This had to be done in a meticulous fashion.

”D-d-drauni.”

”Pleased to meet you, Drauni. I go by Paper Moon. Haven’t gotten around to making business cards yet, but maybe I will someday.” Moon chuckled at his own joke, but it seams that his acquaintance wasn't too fond of his humor. But at least he was no longer frantically swinging his arms about. ”Now, I’m going to need you to stay with me here. Can I get a sign that somebody’s behind the wheel?” Drauni gave what Moon made out to be a nod, he was still fairly perturbed. ”...Guess that’ll have to do. Anyways, I’m going to be blunt here. A friend and I are forming a band of dedicated spirits to hunt down Corpse Collector.” He spoke as softly as humanly possible, in hopes of not stepping on an emotional landmine. ”Everybody's gunning for that reward. You know it. I know it. Even that childhood friend who lives right next door and have held unrequited feelings all these years for knows it.” That last one seemed to resonate with him, since he instantly gave Moon his undivided attention. Childhood friend who doesn’t notice him? Guy’s got it tough. Without even skipping a beat, Paper Moon propelled himself through the gap he made in the conversation, ”So, are you in?”

There were a few moments of silence, broken by Drauni’s sotto acceptance. ”Great! I’m going to add you to a party, but until we all meet up, not a peep of this to anyone. Mum’s the word.” His affable smile was betrayed by the seriousness in his eyes, which pierced into the newer player’s soul. He didn’t know whether to be relaxed or respectful. ”I’ll contact you soon, I think we’re about done.” With Paper Moon’s affable demeanor juxtaposed to Arms Slave’s intimidation factor, the two were able to round up a handful of willing fresh players, greener than the grass.

When the alarms went off out of the blue, those who were contacted quickly amassed at a designated area. It was thereby decided that they would venture past the limits, leaving other players to fight to for the city's streets, and ultimately the Black King.

---

Now:

”I spotted two mid-level dissolutions, along with faint traces of heat heading towards the city. But we’re too far for me to really discern anything substantial, so for all we know it could have just been smaller mobs.” Paper Moon glanced over the entire group. He could already feel the angst emanating from the mere mention of the enemies. Instead of going for one of his iconic jokes to lighten up the mood, he instead crossed his arms. A solemn expression on Moon’s face was a rare sight.

”It’s not their levels that’s got me rattled. It’s their very existence. Mobs of that gargantuan size should not naturally spawn in such a close proximity to any city. Which means…”The assassin trailed off in his own thoughts, but there was no need for him to finish the sentence. What he was implying was already as clear as day. ”So, what’s your call, Arms?” He clenched his fingers onto the brim of his jacket and zipped it up. The assassin stared off towards the city, only a portion of which could be seen past the maze of worn down infrastructure. It was evident that they would have to make a grave decision soon. They could simply go on ahead and entirely disregard the dissolutions, but something was gnawing at the back of his mind. It was all too spontaneous. As murmurs spread across the players, Paper Moon opened up his messages and sent one at a cursory pace.

To: Leviathan
From: Paper Moon
Subject: No Subject

I've got a lead.

@Lucius Cypher @Kimiyosis

Deep Ground Online (Hiatus)

Paper Moon

”Alright, might as well dump this… Hm, this too… Oh, perhaps I could salvage some parts from this weapon? Naaaaaaaaaah, running low on cash anyways.” That last statement wasn’t entirely true. Paper Moon didn’t heavily rely upon selling junk and unwanted items as a source of income. It’s just that when he was ordered to… clean up some person, they always seemed to be packing, which he always took with open arms. He finally decided it was time to lighten his cargo, an errand most speed builds found themselves having to divvy up time to more than others. Out of his peripheral vision he saw multiple signs of movement. The Black City had some surprisingly bustling streets, especially for a metropolis bearing the name of such an ominous faction. Guess newbies were drawn to the unknown.

After he swiped away the trading screen, he breathed in the synthetic air, relishing the feeling of a lifted burden. Or, it’s just that he felt a lot lighter. Paper Moon soon found himself with his menu open yet again, his inbox vibrantly blinked with a notification, as if its sender could not wait until he pried it open. And when he pressed the accept button, instantaneously he felt at ease. Lina always had a flawless way of weaving in her personality into her writing, as if she was talking to him face to face. With a jubilant but equally contained smile, he ran his eyes across the lines of text. And in an autonomous manner, gently tapped the reply button and set to his keyboard, completely oblivious to the flow of passer-bys engulfing him.

To: Leviathan
From: Paper Moon
Subject: Re:Re:ONLINE GAME ADDICTS SPRECHCHOR

”Back to the homeland, eh? Better not be feeling homesick while on the job, XP
Hope you got me a souvenir, or there’ll definitely be a strike >:3
Anyways, I’m in the same boat as you. Everybody’s still out for Corpse Collector, and I guess we’re no exception. I’m snooping around for some leads, but nothing’s popped up as of late. Maybe something will just drop out of the sky, yeah?.”

Just as he hit the send key, with a portion of his brain still divvied up to his surroundings, he instinctively moved out of the way of the object on a crash course with him. He raised an eyebrow at the remains of the window, still trying to process what had just occurred, ”Did they add a gifting system…?” Out of the shambles flew a four-armed… well that was really the only way to describe him. At least that’s what drew his attention right off the bat. His iconic smile coupled with an outstretched hand was his response. ”With an entrance like that, how could I possibly decline?” He was definitely intrigued, but not entirely sold, albeit the fact that he looked the part. ”Now when you say ‘train and to be bait’, do you mean to be cannon fodder or sufficient fighters? Honestly, I wouldn’t mind going with the latter. Name’s Paper Moon. Assassin. Solo. Certified portable heater.”

@Lucius Cypher @Kimiyosis

Deep Ground Online (Hiatus)

Will be posting tomorrow. Sorry for the wait, robocompetition!

Deep Ground Online (Hiatus)

Will be able to respond to Arms' 10/10 entrance later tonight, I don't think I have a lot on my agenda today.

Deep Ground Online (Hiatus)

CURSE YOU ROBOTICS COMPETITIO- wow that sounds nowhere near as bad as everything above.

Splendor and Stupidity (A KonoSuba-inspired RP)- We're Live, Guys!

@liferusher
Yuiiiiiiiiii

Splendor and Stupidity (A KonoSuba-inspired RP)- We're Live, Guys!

Oh, things were surely getting interesting. And by interesting, he meant progressively annoying. With every new appearance, Falsch’s abdomen only became more and more concave. Not only did the giant sack of green potatoes completely refuse to acknowledge his existence, a living coat-hanger sought to spirit away their only mage. ”Yeah, she definitely intends to whisk her right off her feet, and right under the bed sheets without a doubt.” He mentally commented. And what was with that look in her eyes? Those pupils full of feigned kindness, surely a facade for condescension. He was half-tempted to peruse the demon’s capabilities, but found it borderline impossible to stare at her for more than a second. Mostly because of the uncontrollable urge to leave his eyes glued to her indefinitely. Sure, she was a belle, but there’s no way she could obtain the undivided attention of every single person in the establishment. It took more than just good looks to draw a notable portion of the adventurers from their alcoholic beverages. Something was off about her, but Falsch felt if he was to investigate further, he too would be entranced.

His savior turned out to be the person he least expected. Bolting up in armor made of innocence, and with a mind absent of dirty thoughts or any form of mature attraction, the newbie who drew them all together like this professed that his abilities were top-notch once more. In one fluent motion, he threw away precious coinage and shot them away with his naivety. Unfortunately in this case Falsch had to absolve and hand it to the kid. Of course, he wasn’t going to compliment him that easily. The cat-eared adventurer gave a slow, almost sarcastic clap at the display. ”I’ll admit it, you’ve amazed me. It’s a rare sight to see an adventurer throw away money, even to ramp up their own bravado. But, I guess you deserve some credit for making those shots. Most monsters move faster than the average coin not even in freefall, but hey, at least you’ve technically got a few kills under your belt?” Falsch shrugged with a wry smile stretched widely across his face, which almost seemed to extend far beyond the corners of his mouth. He paused to sip at the last of his coffee, and after gently setting down the cup, waltzed over to the somewhat jolly green giant.

”And you, my axe-bearing… is acquaintance too much? Let’s just accept the fact that we’re on the same plane of existence, sounds good?” Falsch had picked up that the Orchid too intended to exclude him from the party. Rather than returning a favor, he decided to forgo the antagonistic approach and constricted the orc in ropes of kindness and friendship, ”Anyways, I’m sure with your help in addition to mine, we probably have a higher possibility of success with harder quests.” Yes, pawn them both off to kid as an inseparable package. ”But in all seriousness, and I truly mean in all seriousness, we could really use a tank. I can go for weak points and cover for where you falter. And I’m sure with Koji firing from the rear and our mage, we can be a fairly coherent unit.”

Once Falsch had wrapped up his monologue, he wanted to hold out his hand to Orchid to seal the deal, but felt that the orc would “accidentally” incapacitate him and decided against it. Now it was time for the last, and frankly the most detrimental hurdle. Instead of taking the demon aside, he simply stared into her eyes, unwavering in his resolve. These sort of situations required thorough thinking, the utmost foresight, and undying determination. Fulcrums like these were the center of historical events. From these points, a myriad of alternate futures could blossom and erupt. Thus, he would have to proceed in the most conscientious manner.

”YOU HELP US OUT, YOU GET THE BOOTY.”

The mental message hopefully bridge the gap between the two. Falsch solemnly nodded and then announced to nobody in particular, ”Oh yeah, my name is Falsch. Falsch Amorum. Adventurer. Nekomimi. Meow and stuff.”

Splendor and Stupidity (A KonoSuba-inspired RP)- We're Live, Guys!

@PKMNB0YI can post by tonight, just gotta stay late on campus before then.

Deep Ground Online (Hiatus)

So uh...failing hard drives, plus near end of semester, is eating my time up.
And oooh~ Jedly has returned~!

@Kimiyosis

-raises coffee cup- Yep~. Got accepted into my top choice college, so I'm free and just getting through high school right now.