Looks fun, will keep an eye on it.
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Nova
“The other problem being us, huh,” Nova raised her brows, somewhere between offended and amused. “Well, you’re right we should take care of this guy first, though,” she agreed with a light shrug. She glanced at the player who struggled with bringing the man to his feet, slinging him across a shoulder. “Here, let me,” she offered, going around so as to help support him from the other side. “I’m Nova, by the way.”
There was little chatter on the way, and it was kind of slow going, given two of them had to drag an unconscious person between them. Nova rubbernecked around as much as she could, marveling at how expanded, how real the city was now.
It took a few minutes before they made it to a deserted street, and to an unknown house. Whether it was Windstar’s home, or merely a temporary safe house was unknown. It was inconspicuous, but was fairly normal.
A silent elf butler helped them take the unconscious man downstairs at Eunice’s direction. It was kind of awkward to do that without a stretcher, but they managed.
Then, they returned to the first floor, sat around, and Windstar told her tale. “An empty void,” she muttered thoughtfully, thinking of those guards’ reactions who’d thought her mentally unstable.
“A drive to know?” she scoffed. “Didn’t you say earlier you had to protect that man from being questioned?” she asked dubiously. Nova didn’t mistrust Eunice per say, but did find it strange she’d trusted them as easily, given everything.
“You’re right I won’t go telling others, though,” she confirmed with a head shake. It’d be way too troublesome trying to spread this, and would cause chaos, anyways. But if she found trustworthy others though…Well, at least she could bring them to Eunice – unless the woman wouldn’t be available, of course. Curious about that point, she asked, “Do you already have any plans what you’ll do, or do you intend to decide after we tell you what we do?”
Regardless of Eunice’s answer, Nova would nod, and say, “Alright, then.”
“You said you wanted to know our side of things, huh. Well…We’re basically people from another world, and this,” she motioned with an arm around them, “all of this, the whole world here, was just a game to us. A digital game based on a computer program – no magic involved, just technology.
“And before you ask, no, it’s not normal from our side of things to be able to travel to different worlds, technology or no. We had no magic – it wasn’t considered real, there was no evidence for it. Sure, people believed in deities, or spirits, or the afterlife, but it was all personal belief, you know? There were no spells of the kind you can find here. Oh, and we were all humans,” self-consciously, she tugged at her wolf ears, “so this is a bit of a change.”
“But, yeah, no dice on the why. We don’t even know how this could have happened. It shouldn’t have been possible based on what we know of our world,” Nova concluded.
Shei Vivem
Shei ran through the streets, hastily scrawled directions that may as well be indecipherable to another held in one hand, backpack slung on the shoulder of the other arm. The travel had taken quite a while, having started from another continent, and then she’d needed to gather some intel to find where the meeting was. Usual hunter stuff, really, but she may, may have gotten distracted by some cool local mask shop she’d happened to see, and well…Well. The rest, as they say, was history.
She peered into the distance as she weaved in between the throng of people, checking her note every then and again, comparing her self-made instructions to the streets and locales surrounding her. “Aha!” she exclaimed when she saw some unlikely individuals entering an otherwise seemingly abandoned bar some ways away. Still, she double checked the bar with the options her note enumerated – one of them was a match. Hm, so they went with this one…
By the time she arrived, those who’d arrived before here had already entered. Shei was just about to open the door, when there was some sort of disturbance inside. Curious, she yanked the door open. However, beside the tense atmosphere, and the teen ready for trouble – or perhaps trying to stay out of trouble based on his words, there was no sign of anything untoward having happened. Of course, Shei knew that appearances were deceptive. Should have activated Gyo, maybe. But…Mm, not that dangerous, yet.
Showing no signs of hesitations, she went right in. “Hey, hey, so did I miss the action, or what?” She asked cheerfully, looking around, taking in the participant. Her gaze settled on the hooded individual she assumed was the White Tiger.
Caelum Harrington
Unexpectedly, Caelum managed to run past the Shaxes and through the door unscathed. When he saw them injure the guy in front, then proceed to use magic, he’d thought they were all done for. But other people’s bravery got them handled, and Caelum merely weaved through easily – though not effortlessly. By the time he was out, he was shivering in fright of the near disaster he’d just managed to avoid. He stared wildly at the bleeding arm of one of the students, picturing how easily it could have been his neck spurting blood were he more unfortunate.
He didn’t even have to assist with the door, since three others kept it open just long enough for all of them to pass. When it once again shut behind them with a thud, Caelum exhaled a relieved, though lightly shuddery breath. However, he didn’t need explaining that things weren’t over yet. The fact they were still in the middle of the prison complex was telling enough. He’d caught a final glimpse of the police woman as she fought, but he wasn’t worried. She looked like she knew what she was doing, so she’d probably be fine.
As he surveyed the surroundings, thinking on how to escape and where to, Caelum noticed the dysfunctional search-light. As the student-in-lead had noted, this is what their rescuer must have meant when she said that Pondwater’s Vision was taken out. Unlike Barney, Caelum wasn’t so sure that Pondwater needed to go enable the search light himself, though. Couldn’t he just order a minion of his to do so? Regardless, it was worrying that they didn’t know how much time they had.
Caelum was still in the middle of formulating a sensible escape plan, when cattle prod bearing guard discovered them. He felt a chill go through him at the sight of the weapon. He froze for barely a moment, in which some of the others had already begun to scatter. Bracing himself with an inhale, he did the same, taking care not to go anywhere near that guard.
Without a firm idea of where to go, he found himself following Barney, though the other man was quite a bit ahead of him already. Though he went the same way, in between the pens and the fence, he didn’t manage to catch up immediately. Caelum pushed himself past the burn in his legs, but he’d had to hide behind one of the pens several times, but not ever in the same spot as Barney – which might have been for the better. Not that he knew much about it, but he thought two people next to each other might be easier to find.
As he ran and hid, he did his best to ignore the human corpses – empty shells empty of anything a genuine body should have. They were just…hung over ropes like laundry. Caelum didn’t know if they were dead, or not. Death might have been better compared to the possibility that they were tortured in that strange way while alive. Not that any of the victims gave away any inkling of being affected, so perhaps they weren’t capable of feeling anything anyhow. Small mercy, that.
He really didn’t have the freedom to spare these unknowns much thought. As far as he knew, they might not be human the way he and his companions were. If they had been at one point…it didn’t matter anymore. Caelum was certain that it was due to prioritizing his own safety and wellbeing that he’d done as well as he did so far. All that was left was to head to the goal – apparently, a cathedral.
He had no idea why the other man chose that building out of all the possibilities, but he wouldn’t question it. Barney had proven quite useful when it came to tackling the challenges of this place so far. Caelum rather thought he’d be as willing to charge through, bait, or otherwise distract any danger they might encounter. Perhaps he himself wouldn’t have to do anything at all…
Nova
Akira was gazing up into the sky mindlessly when one other person approached. Based on his gear, she judged him to be another player. “He is, even though I’ve already given him a potion,” she confirmed, nodding at the man slumped besides her.
Then, from the opposite side of the ally, a robed one approached. When the hood fell off, Akira gasped, “Windstar?” in recognition. She was already half-up when the woman motioned irritably for her to calm down and stay still. Akira did so, watching baffled as she quickly patched up the gash on her forearm, then got working on the messenger.
“Questions…I don’t even know to start, I’ve got so many,” she muttered quietly. Another player, who’d appeared when she hadn’t been paying attention, got in a question first.
Akira ruffled her hair – upon passing by her fluffy canine ears, she remembered she’d decided to take on the role of Nova. Not like we’re two different people. Doesn’t mean I have to think like a native either, she determined.
“Yeah, that’s important, the city hasn’t ever been attacked when– before.” She’d been about to say when this all had been a game, but stopped in the last second to change tracks. “I’ve kinda been wondering…Do you remember us? You’re, uh…known as a sort of helper to us pla– err, adventurers. But you must have met so many…” Nova trailed off, staring at Eunice incomprehensibly.
It was wild to consider that from her point of view, she’d met and helped every single person that now got trapped here. Of course, that was assuming NPCs has the same stories now as they had in game, and ‘remembered’ it. Nova didn’t even want to think about how they could have done so when they’d only been a part of the program, because it made her head hurt.
Any updates guys?
Yeah, sorry, just some bad timing on my part, since I'm in another RP that's recently started and inadvertantly neglected this one a bit.
Nova
The potion had worked, but regardless of how much Nova shouted in the man’s ear or tugged at him, he remained unresponsive. Unconscious. The griffon would soon be able to attack again, and while Nova could escape on her own, she didn’t think she could take the man with her. Maybe a skill…but then, those that would let her flee had only worked on her before, and even if she carried the man, there was no way to know if it’d still function as intended or not. And that wasn’t something she could afford to test just then.
Steeling herself, Nova prepared to combat the griffon. Protecting someone else while directly confronting her target really wasn’t her stile, as a ninja, but something she could manage against a single opponent. Usually, she was more of a harasser while in this class, but she knew that beyond the bomb she’d used so far, it’d serve her better to switch to close range than rely on mid-range. The latter moves were there more so for support anyhow, used to keep on the heat on an enemy when she had to move away from them. Of course, it also worked for surprise attacks, or just switching up tactics.
All that and more was a mere background consideration in Nova’s mind as she moved. She jumped up at the still reeling griffon, one arm ready at her weapon, other preparing to execute a certain skill. Midair, she jumped again using Heavenly Step, which brought her right to the griffon’s chest. With her left, she applied an Explosive Tag, and with her right, she drew out her blade to block the incoming attacks.
She blocked its claws, but the griffons’ beak skidded alongside her blade when she swung it in a counter-clockwise arc. Seeing that she was about to get hit, she activated Shadow Jump. Her body dispersed into a dark-grey smog, and she re-appeared directly behind and above the griffon. It was mildly disorienting, since she was now facing the other direction, but she quickly got her bearing, slicing at the griffon’s back as she descended.
Her bird enemy, in the meanwhile, was at first confused when its target disappeared from right in front of it. Then, just when Nova appeared above it, the Explosive Tag finally activated after a slight delay (of perhaps a second), exploding upon its chest. The creature shrieked its displeasure, but that was only the first in succession of many injuries it would suffer. Right after, it felt the base of its wings being sliced up, and twisting its neck around, turned to see where the danger was.
As the griffon turned to look at her, Nova landed right on its back. She performed a downwards thrusting attack, which scored a critical hit on the creature. While the katana was still lodged into its back, the griffon extended its neck. Recognizing what was to come, Nova freed her left hand from the hilt of her weapon, and materialized a kunai out of her inventory to deflect her opponent’s beak.
The block with the shorter sidearm was imperfect, and her forearm suffered a long gash for it. But it’d given her enough time to dislodge her katana. Nova pushed herself off the griffon’s back, sending the kunai flying with her left. The bird managed to block it, but it’d served as the distraction that she needed it for. Midair, she sheathed her katana, and performed a back flip, landing gracefully on the ground.
She grabbed a bunch of shuriken out of that interdimensional pocket of space known as the inventory. “Lightning charge…” she muttered – unnecessarily, really, but she was kinda getting into it. Burning some stamina and mana, the five shuriken sparked with electricity. She sent them at the griffon in quick succession. When the last one landed, she shouted, “…And Strike!” and electricity discharged from the serrated metal discs right into the flying beast. It was enough to finish it off, and with a gurgle, it fell to the ground. The thud of the body was heavy, and it raised some dust once more. Blood pooled from its body as it lay there, dead.
Nova looked away, wiping sweat from her brow as she re-focused on the unconscious messenger. Time to get him out, and lay low a bit. She hurried, grabbed the man underneath his armpits, and dragged him into the nearest alleyway. Nova hid them both amongst some trash. Once they were mostly safe, she slumped against the wall, head thudding on the concrete as she half-sat, half-collapsed onto the ground.
That fight had been…taxing. She’d not thought so before, but now it all came rushing back…the many times she could have been injured, the one time that she had been, the griffon’s corpse…She clutched at her left forearm, staunching the blood flow. Nova…No, she was definitely Akira just then, and she needed a breather. So, she stayed there, guarding the unconscious man as she calmed her breathing, glancing around every once in a while.
Nova
Akira was in the middle of figuring if Nova’s – her – sheesh, that was still confusing – skills could be used normally. The game’s menus had showed up when she just concentrated on wanting one specific thing strongly enough, and she’d even been able to put items from her inventory and back in so far.
She wasn’t able to play test (was that even still the right word, if they weren’t in the game anymore, Akira wondered) anything, however, because the sky suddenly darkened. “Hm?” she looked up, startled, her sight still partially obscured by a skills and inventory screens. For now, she closed out of them all.
The clouds soon culminated into something yet more alarming; a falling red light. It was right above the fountain, and thus, above her head. Fuck, gotta be like Nova…think–No, act!
Moving as if she truly was her character, Nova rolled out of the way, then got dragged even further away by the receding crowd. Having been brought farther then intended, she elbowed her way back to the front, so she could see clearly.
A man had smashed into the mountain, armour all twisted and possibly squeezing his torso dangerously, bleeding as he knelt there. He uttered his message, and following it, several flying beasts emerged from the sky.
As some fled, and others chose to stand their ground, Nova eyed the descending monsters, and weaved her way left and right, evading their claws and beaks until she made her way to the kneeling man.
Opening her inventory with ease, she drew out a healing potion, one of the several she carried around. “Here,” she said, kneeling next to the man, handing him the flask. As she crouched by his side, ready to help him drink if he needed it, she kept a wary eye on the surrounding enemies.
When, as expected, one of them, a griffon, begun to descend upon what it’d judged as easy prey, Nova withdrew a bomb from her still opened inventory, and threw it right into the bird’s face.
“Let’s retreat,” she ordered, and crept closer, extending an arm to put around him. She’d half-drag him if she had to, but he kind of did have to cooperate for this part.
Nova
After a long day at the university, shopping for food, and getting some stretching in before her planned gaming binge, Akira was more than ready to flop into the chair before her computer. She had her water, snack, and comfy pajamas all ready, computed booted up, Emerald Odyssey ready to play.
She clicked on the game’s icon, and took out her phone. She checked to see if there were any in-game videos of the newest update, but it seemed like people were too keen to try it out all to have made any yet. Not too unexpected, given that it was launch day, and that the update had gone live within the last hour or so.
Akira tapped on her phone mindlessly as she waited for the game to load. She expected a significant wait when she clicked into one of the servers, but oddly, there was no waiting queue. Setting the phone aside, she readied her fingers at the keyboard and mouse, but then–
A blinding white light enveloped her.
One minute, she’d been in her room, and the next…She was standing in front of very familiar city gates. Aluvera. The city was distinct and familiar, and she recognized it immediately. She’d seen it often enough for one, and for another, it had been only a few days ago that she’d left her character her the last time she’d played.
Right. Her character. Could it be…? Akira looked down, and saw the familiar fashion, as well as the katana sheathed at her hip. Amazed, she touched the clothing, the hilt, the scabbard…It was immaculate, truly.
Making a final check, she pinched her cheek, and her eyes slightly watered. Well. It felt real enough, huh. But Isekai wasn’t supposed to exist outside of stories…
Looking around, the choice of whether to wander farther away into the wide stretch of grassland or to enter the safety of the city was an easy one to make.
As she passed through the gates, she caught sight of some guards, and approached. “Hey!” she greeted somewhat forcefully, and walked closer. They shifted slightly, and one of them nodded in invitation. “Do you know how I came to be here?” she asked.
“I…am unsure what you are asking, miss,” one replied. The guards glanced at each other, apparently deeming her as a weirdo.
“You must have travelled here,” another pitched in with a shrug.
Akira exhaled forcefully, brushing a hand through her hair. Even this minor gesture revealed something new – her wolf ears. She touched them cautiously, trying to look up to see, which was of course impossible.
“Ahh, I’d forgotten about this,” she muttered, removing the hand from her head, and looking round at her rump. A wide sweeping tail was there to meet her, black furred and swinging from side to side. These additions had been so natural, she’d not felt them at all till now. Also, her mind her been honestly too preoccupied by this whole situation to also remember that she wasn’t exactly human anymore.
“Miss?” one guard questioned, and Akira realized he’d been saying something while she was absorbed in her inspection. Seeing he’d caught her attention, he added, “Perhaps you should go see a healer. You do, er, seem to be…suffering from some memory loss, perhaps?” he suggested warily.
Akira scratched her – Nova’s? – ear ruefully. “Yeah, alright. Thanks for the help, mister.”
Then, she departed, weaving through the crowd as she walked briskly towards the town square. She saw plenty of players, all as confused as she was, trying to log out, or find people they knew…she could be doing that too, she thought, but there was one thing prior to that she wanted to accomplish.
Once at the town square, she approached the fountain, and peered into her reflection. “So, it is Nova,” she stated, unsurprised. She’d already concluded as much. Should I go by Nova rather than Akira, at least while I’m stuck here?
On the one hand, there were people who might recognize her by her real name rather than her game name, but the vice versa also held true. Regardless, her intuition said to go by Nova. Maybe it’d make it easier on her while she had to be in this world, too. And yeah, she was pretty sure there was no easy way out.
Still, she began trying to access the menu. “Options…log out…character select…exit…friends list...” she muttered a variety of ingame functions, starting with those that had enabled her to exit the game in the past, and proceeding to those one would expect to find in a game, such as the world chat window, inventory, or the skills menu.
Caelum Harrington
Caelum stared at Pondwater with narrowed eyes, the frown twisting his face soon twisting into a snarl when the judge continued with his patronizing criticisms. “Pretending?” he scoffed, and dearly wanted to ask the man if he wasn’t mistaking Caelum for himself. This self-deluded maniac certainly had scars of a very specific nature.
The more he listened, the more aghast he was that he’d agreed with even part of what Pondwater had said, about winning and losing. That, at least, had been simple enough to be agreeable. But all his ideas of how he, personally, was to judge a myriad of people by subjecting them to some absurd trials? No one could possibly stomach it.
Thus, when Pondwater first lined up the guards for them to fight, Caelum inspected thoroughly, trying to think of ways how to take one of them one. Surely, even if they were trained, it should be possible to defeat one with an unexpected or underhanded attack, at the very least? After all, this wasn’t like before, when they’d ganged up on them. However, just as he’d steeled himself to physically confront one of the guards, those questionably human beings revealed their true monstrous nature.
Caelum’s mouth dropped, and he shifted his stance into an evasive one as those things appeared. Deformed storks, tangled balls of limbs with a lion’s head atop each, and even a Cerberus of all things. “No fucking way,” he whispered, taking a subtle step back, ready to flee. No way he could fight these monsters; any of them was liable to kill him with one strike from a maliciously sharp appendage.
Exactly when Pondwater started to give out an order for the dog to maul a student to death, a shape crashed through one of the windows, and skewered the Cerberus’ middle head into the ground. Now, that she was still for a moment, Caelum recognized her as the police woman from his dream. His mind boggled as to how and if he’d transited from reality to dream – but perhaps, it was the other way around. His neurons were still firing up in response to his previously suffered pain and the danger he was currently facing, after all.
However, he had better things to do then ponder upon the strangeness of this situation. The police woman had it right – they should use this opportunity to escape. Unfortunately, two Shaxes stood in their way. While Caelums studied the surroundings for a way past that did not involve meeting them head on, there were several students who did just that – charged straight into danger.
“Ah hell,” he muttered. He raised both hands above his head for a meagre measure of protection against those beaks, and ran after the others. Honestly, Caelum was mostly hoping the duo of monsters would be too preoccupied by several charging people to pay any attention to someone who merely followed the pack. He supposed he could try punching them in the neck, if he had to, but he’d rather not risk getting an arm taken off, or something. So, he focused mostly on evasion as he made his escape.
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