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Your vision blurs. Too much blood was lost, and your sword lays in pieces within you, having shattered from the monsterβs blow with such force that it pierced through your own armor. Behind, beside, and beyond, your comrades continue to fight, mixed cries of rage and terror sounding everywhere. Celestial fires scour the field, mythic steel strikes scale, and the invocations of a dozen Nuclei resound, singular abilities manifesting to strike down the being before you. But that creature too, was unique. The first of its kind, the last of its kind, an Anomaly in the truest of sense, granting glory and wealth upon its defeat, but carnage and despair in its victory. Your hometown lies behind you, five thousand souls watching this battle from a distance, their fates balanced on a bladeβs edge.
A head flies through the smoky air, bouncing, then rolling to a stop beside you. Your loverβs head, transfixed in a resigned, apologetic smile. Less than half the party was still alive, commands and orders turning into panicked requests and blame-shifting, even as the Anomaly devoured the last of the front-liners. The last bit of hope died with them, and you close your eyes, accepting your fate.
βWelp, maybe someone else can deal with it.β
Your vision goes black, and you open your eyes to the familiar sight of your bedroom ceiling.
On a certain day of a certain month, Cacophony Concord was released, a VRMMO designed for a new console that boasted promises social media influencers derided as grossly overexaggerated and overhyped. Until then, no full-dive game was so bold as to claim fully-sentient AI and realistic physics, nor anything as insane as a whole continent for players to explore. An exaggeration, perhaps, for a nameless studio to grab some attention. Marketing hype, perhaps, when the reality of it would be like No Manβs Sky upon launch.
There was no lie. No fabrication.
Within the first month, 70% of compatible Full Dive Devices were subscribed to Cacophony Concord. In three months, sales of FDDs increased by 40%. Within half a year, the game boasted the largest active player population of any MMO game in the market, and had yet to require any patch or server maintenance. An in-game translator enabled seamless communication between players, regardless of their nationality, and there never seemed to be any server lag or glitches. The world of Cacophony Concord truly was like a real world, in both physical size and cultural complexity, and with thousands of different classes available to mix and match, the possibilities were endless for character creation. Sentient NPCs acted in a way almost indistinguishable from players, and the time dilation put into place enabled one to enjoy the game at whatever pace they desired. It was a second life in a fantasy world, a life where you could live out those dreams of your childhoodβ¦so long as you could afford it.
The game never crashed. The game never glitched. The game never sent players comatose, nor trap people within it. It continued to run perfectly, thwarting any attempts to hack it, and there were security systems put in place to prevent distasteful actions between players. There was neither any downtime nor any patches.
Thus, no one really noticed or cared when the studio that made Cacophony Concord quietly disappeared.
Beyond being able to possess six different Classes at once, Cacophony Concord has one final system in place to enable players to feel truly unique. That is the Nucleus System, a special item molded by the playerβs personality and actions and granted to them after theyβve spent an unspecified amount of time in the game. This Nucleus, which can be neither be lost nor replaced, continues to evolve as one plays, seemingly without any correlation with oneβs Level. As it goes from one stage to another, it obtains more abilities, molded to fit a combination of the playerβs playstyle and experiences, and confers higher stat gains to its owner, which gives a massive advantage for more highly evolved Nuclei. Some have called it like βhaving a Standβ, and for the casual player, unconcerned of the vast scope of the game, simply having a superpower tailored specifically for them is enough of a draw to continue playing.
Nuclei can generally be separated into five categories:
Type-Arms manifest as equipment, often scaling well enough with the userβs level that one would never need to replace it with something different. Unlike normal weapons, they are usually indestructible, though damage can still βpassβ through them.
Type-Guard manifests as monsters native to the setting of Cacophony Concord, possessing stats and abilities that complementβs the userβs own. Unlike monsters tamed or summoned, they cannot be destroyed unless their user is, but can be rendered unconscious for periods of time.
Type-Chariot manifests as a vehicle or a steed, and is widely considered to be the Nucleus category most prone for being a hybrid, such as a Type-Arms/Chariot manifesting as a motorcycle with chainsaws attached, or a Type-Guard/Chariot manifesting as a monstrous steed.
Type-Castle manifests as a fortification that the user can summon and remove at will. These fortifications range from towers to temples to workshops, and generally offer more defensive or utility-based abilities for their user.
Type-Territory manifests as a zone dictated by the user. The Nuclei have no physical form at all, instead temporarily changing the landscape that the zone is set in, and often possesses powerful abilities limited to the boundaries of the zone. The least common of the standard Nuclei.
Type-Guard manifests as monsters native to the setting of Cacophony Concord, possessing stats and abilities that complementβs the userβs own. Unlike monsters tamed or summoned, they cannot be destroyed unless their user is, but can be rendered unconscious for periods of time.
Type-Chariot manifests as a vehicle or a steed, and is widely considered to be the Nucleus category most prone for being a hybrid, such as a Type-Arms/Chariot manifesting as a motorcycle with chainsaws attached, or a Type-Guard/Chariot manifesting as a monstrous steed.
Type-Castle manifests as a fortification that the user can summon and remove at will. These fortifications range from towers to temples to workshops, and generally offer more defensive or utility-based abilities for their user.
Type-Territory manifests as a zone dictated by the user. The Nuclei have no physical form at all, instead temporarily changing the landscape that the zone is set in, and often possesses powerful abilities limited to the boundaries of the zone. The least common of the standard Nuclei.
The world of Cacophony Concord is set upon two continents bridged by an archipelago, upon which five noteworthy nations exist, each of them apparent facsimiles of real-world countries. Magic has bridged the gap between the medieval and the modern, though the extent of how much magitech has progressed depends on which nation one is in, varying from steampunk to high fantasy in both aesthetics and the commonality of magic in daily life. Of note, however, is that modern conveniences, such as plumbing and heating, exist in all nations, apparently for the comfort of players whoβd rather not walk through streets smelling of human refuse.
Upon character creation, players are able to select one of five nations to become a citizen of, allowing them to partake in wars, join and establish guilds, receive merits and titles from the rulers of the nation, and gain access to nation-specific Classes. Though one can change their citizenship later on, they relinquish any titles or merits accrued, as well as membership of whatever guild theyβre in. These nations are:
The high-fantasy kingdom of Deneb, home to grand mountain ranges, sweeping plains, knights in shining armor, and pristine castles.
The steampunk meritocracy of Alderamin, where infertile soil sparked invention and industry out of necessity, creating blimps and steel golems.
The noble-states of Horogi, perpetually in a state of civil war as aristocrats scheme and warlords slay, all for the glory of becoming emperor.
The mercantile archipelago of Velonta, always tropical and always flush with foreign goods as pirates and traders go to and fro in ships living and inanimate.
The lawless wastelands of Erid, ruled by dastardly gunmen during daylight and undying monstrosities during nighttime.
The steampunk meritocracy of Alderamin, where infertile soil sparked invention and industry out of necessity, creating blimps and steel golems.
The noble-states of Horogi, perpetually in a state of civil war as aristocrats scheme and warlords slay, all for the glory of becoming emperor.
The mercantile archipelago of Velonta, always tropical and always flush with foreign goods as pirates and traders go to and fro in ships living and inanimate.
The lawless wastelands of Erid, ruled by dastardly gunmen during daylight and undying monstrosities during nighttime.
Lore and mythos tells of ancient civilizations, sundered by an alien force, and even now, ruins have been discovered around the world, holding treasures from another time. Vestiges of that civilization-destroying force persist as well, Anomalies that are predator and prey of the Players.
If you read all the above, gratz! This was largely inspired by ye olde Grimgar and the new flavor, Infinite Dendrogram.
I'm looking for a maximum of 10 players, capable of posting on a weekly basis. Characters should have some connection with each other (enough so that they'll actually party together and all), should start in the same nation, and will basically be newcomers to the virtual world of Cacophony Concord. There's some hella plot to this, and the virtual nature of the game will mean that death may come brutally and swiftly, but overall, I enjoy adventures and anime shit. After all, you are essentially going to become immortal Stand-users with superhuman capabilities and magical powers in a fantastic world where there are monsters abound and glorious quests to challenge. Also you can date and marry NPCs.
So hey, if you're interested, say so. Even better if you got questions and what-not.
Applicants
Madgalene Ross, by OwO
Jokson Verdona, by Versa
Nivlek Lee Rai Hong, by 71342
Nicholas Forgefane, by PrinceAlexus
Theresa Edward, by GreenGoat
Stanislaw Kaminski, by Psyker Landshark
Alys Kaleign, by Haha
Raymond A. Moreno, by Searat
Lewis Duval, by Cu Chulainn
Amelia Marescol, by Yankee
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