Five years ago, the Hypnos Corporation released their highly anticipated game, Digimon: Emergence. By utilizing augmented reality and real-time GPS tracking, players could use their smartphones to track down Digimon in the real world, and battle against and alongside other players. The game quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, and Hypnos Corporation became one of the most profitable companies in the world in the span of six months. Of course, the game wasn't without its problems, but after being cooped up by global pandemic, people were looking for any excuse to get out of the house. As time went on, the bugs were ironed out, but the game still has little issues here and there.
As with any game, there have been all kinds of stories tied to it. Some are sweet, wholesome stories that were featured on the news, like "I met my husband during a boss raid!". However, other rumors and legends have been swirling around the internet.
"My Digimon said my name!"
"I saw a real Koromon in the park!"
"Guilmon stole my sandwich!?"
Most people dismiss these stories as outright lies, or guerilla marketing for the game. However many people insist that these strange stories that tie back to Digimon are true. One rumor in particular has reached the status of urban legend in the city of Tokyo after it was posted on the anonymous forum Nichannel.
I was playing D:E in the park near his school after the sun went down. My friend told me that he'd found lots of rare Digimon there, and they only came out at night. I waited for so long, but I didn't see a single Digimon on my phone. I was about to head home when I saw a glowing blue flame among the trees. I was mesmerized. Something about it seemed to want to come close to it. I drew closer to the flame, but it began moving away. I started following the fire until it came to a stop at an old shrine. Sitting there were two women in fox masks wearing outfits like shrine maidens'. They were singing in a language I didn't understand.
When their song finished, they turned to look at me. I had no idea who they were, but being near them, I felt a sense of peace. One of them, whose outfit was red, asked me a question: "Art thou a Tamer?" I was confused by what she meant, at first. The second, dressed in black, blew a smoke ring from her pipe, and said, "What my sister means is, do you play Digimon: Emergence?"
I was confused. Why would they want to know if I played a game on my phone? I simply answered, yes, and the two shrine maidens smiled. "We have a gift for you," the woman in black said. "But you must answer this question for us: do you want your Digimon to be stronger, or do you want them to have new abilities?"
"Why not both?" I asked. The two mikos chuckled, and the woman in red wagged her finger at me.
"Thou art too greedy, little boy," she chided. "Come and find us again when thine heart is purer."
There was a bright flash of light, and I covered my eyes. When I opened them again, the two mikos were nowhere in sight, and the air felt charged with electricity. I have no photos or videos to back this story up, but it actually happened. If you see the two maidens, don't make the same mistake I did.
Hypnos has made no comment on any of these stories beyond, "People have such vivid imaginations!" But are all of these accounts just stories fabricated to entertain fellow internet users? Or is there a kernel of truth to them? There's only one way to find out...
This RP has been rattling around in my brain in some form for a while now, and I'd like to try my hand at getting a small group RP running. The tone I have in mind for the RP is something along the lines of Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory, with elements from various other Digimon media, though the strongest inspirations are Ghost Game and Tamers.
I'd like a little bit more feedback on this to improve it before getting it running properly, and any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated.