JAPAN, 2071. For once, the planet is peaceful as technology continues to flourish. Hoverboards and airtouch devices are popular, major chain restaurants are almost completely managed by robot cat hosts, physical health is monitored through chips inserted into the bloodstream, and humans and domestic animals have strengthened their bonds through the use of interspecies speech translators. Despite everything, these technologies seem to fade in the presence of virtual reality. It’s ever present in Japan; with its help, doctors perform complicated surgeries, soldiers are exposed to hyper-realistic training, individuals even use it in place of hallucinatory drugs… and of course, almost everyone uses it to play video games.
When VIVIDREAM, an obscure VR-gaming company, sent prototype headsets out to one hundred lucky individuals in Yokohama, the city appeared to celebrate overnight. The VIVIDREAM headsets provided gamers with a completely new virtual reality experience. More vibrant displays allowed players to further immerse themselves in their games, there weren’t any instances of lag or delay, and instances felt much, much more realistic. The headsets were lauded as a godsend to both casual and hardcore gamers alike.
Then Uehara Masahiko, a popular student and hard-core VIVIDREAM technoid at Izumi Academy, slipped into a coma. The incident was enough to send a shiver through the student body. Whispers passed from class to class. He pushed himself too hard. He spent too long playing on the VIVIDREAM. Rumors flitted about, as well: there were claims that Masahiko hardly ever left his house and only left to go to school, that there were these strange games that appeared on the VIVIDREAM but only at midnight, that someone swore they saw Masahiko on it once before he fell unconscious. A month passed and students slowly went back to their lives. They had tests to pass, friends to watch out for. There was no need to dwell on an isolated incident. Everything was fine.
Right?
At the tick of midnight, the virtual reality presented by VIVIDREAM changes and becomes the MIDNIGHT REALM. Sometimes it might display a sci-fi MMO. Other times it might display a fantasy single-player. The possibilities are endless, but they are always dependent on the type of game its victim (or host) usually plays. However, it is always riddled by dangerous creatures called Shadows that are extremely aggressive. If one dies in the Midnight Realm, they are consequently placed into a coma from which they may never wake up in the over-world.
Players should make their characters’ Personas, their choice of weaponry, and their get-up reflect the type of game they like. Someone who is devoted to a fantasy game should have a Persona that reflects that archetype, i.e. King Arthur, Gawain, Morrigan, other types of knights and mages, and so forth. On the other hand, someone who spends their time playing a lot of western games will have a Persona similar to characters like Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy, etc. This also corresponds to their main weapon and their clothing in the Midnight Realm.
Please don’t be afraid to ask me any other questions about this.
1.) You must be 18 or older to join.
2.) Be serious about joining when proclaiming interest. Please don’t say you’re interested and then dip without a word. :(
3.) Please be active on both the IC and Discord. I'm a strong believer of the fact that OOC conversation is important in keeping a RP alive, so please don't join and not speak to anyone. Also, please post in the IC at least once a week.
4.) Do NOT ghost us. If you need to step away, let me know.
5.) Not everyone will be accepted. I will be accepting SIX OTHER PEOPLE at the very most, which means you must take your time in crafting out an interesting character that you and other people will have fun playing with.
6.) Please be respectful about people’s claims on Arcana. If you see two people app for Lovers, do not make another Lovers. There’s a bunch of other Arcana out there.
7.) Keep characters’ genders in mind! I don’t want to see a cast of 5 boys and 1 girl or 6 girls overall. Please be flexible when it comes to your characters’ genders.
8.) Have fun and spitball ideas for drama and side-plots. I always have my ears open to your ideas.
