"It is my profound pleasure." Thomas returned this young Rockstar the handshake. He recognized the guy as the flirty one acting at the bar the other day. He is still the same as ever. Thomas had a mixed feeling upon watching the two having a lovebird moment with each other. It was a little weird seeing how she kissed him in the cheek right next to the wheelchair-bound man, but this is twenty-first century already. Expressions and emotions are so public now apparently.
"Anyway, it is great talking to you two. If you don't mind, my food is getting cold." He said before turning his wheelchair around to his lunch. "If you want to discuss anything, or just want a nice chat, feel free to show up at the university at any time. Most instructors would know me. I'll see you around."
Just as he turned around, the young man in the suit acted like he was reading through his student, winking twice while grinning. "You must have been disappointed."
"Alright, here we go. Nice and hot." The man in the nice dark-colored suit brought two identical dishes back to the table. Nothing could be compared to a late bacon, eggs and sausages breakfast. Well, assuming if you have it from time to time, the taste would be incomparable.
Pressing the joystick in front of him ever so slightly, the wheels of his chair inched by less than a quarter of its perimeter, pushing his chest close to the table. The moment he was laying his hand on the utensils, someone appeared right beside him. Turning his head around, he saw Victoria, the girl the other day from Club Aether. The Earth surely is round.
"Hello. Nice to meet you again." Thomas replied, as his eyes periodically glanced over to the man in the corner of the table. He took it upon himself that there was a personal conversation going on that he may intrude, so the man, seemingly in his mid-thirties, gave a slight but polite smile, raised his hand before continuing his lunch. As nice as he is formal, he is one gentleman.
"I was not involved, but was directly affected by it. And I tell you, I'm not at all pleased. But anyway, reminding bad memories wouldn't do much." He said, his hand adjusting his joystick smoothly as he rotated his chair a little to comfortably face her, as she asked how he knew she was a computer person. Looks like she's a little oversensitive here. A computer person is a personality type. He didn't see anything wrong about referring to someone by their personality or their passion. He did that all the time. But for the benefit of the relationship, he'd swept that under the rug for now.
"I don't know how I got under your skin, but I apologize if I did. But anyway, it isn't entirely a solid guess." He replied, as he looked over to her hand. "I saw rigidity in your hand when you held your cup, something that people who types a lot has. And by that I mean hours of typing. But the rest for me is mostly intuition, as someone who has worked in that part for a long while now."
He smiled before continuing, looking up a little bit. "I'm currently working for my doctorate in Artificial Intelligence. It's actually quite interesting if you like to learn more about the zeroes and ones. I guess you can say I am more of reading than writing codes now, but that's just the nature of PhDs."
"And yeah, thanks for the compliment. The truth is, I don't have any of the common clothes that you guys usually wear. I mean I don't go to metal clubs like that much, mostly semi-formal parties and things like that. Call me pedantic if you wish." He shrugged his two hands in a dry but joking manner. "Anyway, which fields of computer do you work in?" He curiously asked, now that she really confirmed his guess.
Marked the tenth day ever since this young PhD student had been stuck in this treacherous game that he ever so anticipated ever since its release. To most people’s surprise, he was surprisingly adaptive to the current situation. In just a span of a week, he had managed to get his entire life normal again, from being a poor man at day 1 to someone who could easily hold his own and to expand his properties. Well, it was not really something special, simply because he did not participate in any, at least large combat, during those days, so his actions are now hopelessly behind.
Until now.
”Ayyy…” The man in his mid-twenties gave a long sigh, one of his many ways of coping with adverse situation. ”I wonder what people are doing with me in here.”
He was still in the middle of his PhD course. Still haven’t gone anywhere with his thesis yet, and now he is here, trapped with no way out and the threat of death surrounding his neck. He wouldn’t be surprised if they decided to dismiss him entirely while he was still in here. The game’s progression had not really proceeded anywhere near floor 100. It may take years to accomplish the game. The real threat is that we only have ten thousand players. Once you’re dead, that number shrink by a small margin. Although he tried to be as optimistic as possible, if the game proved too difficult for the players and enough people perish, it would be the end of hope. And there were also the presence of player killers too, those that only dampens the progression. As much as he considers this his second life, (as combat is more of a choice rather than an obligation in most cases) it’s still just as hard to adjust. This was harsher than real life, and no one could blame him, as even more dealt worse.
Strolling to the window of his room, he slid the curtain open, letting the artificial, yet surprisingly realistic sunlight in his room. Oh well, today is a new day. He just couldn’t spend all the time worrying about the too distant future....
”Alright, what will I need for today?”
As the Aether Bow yields him the most profit for every 300 MP spent, followed by the crossbow, the three things he would need for this would be Crystal, Wood and Iron. Wood would be the primary ingredient he needed to buy. That thing is pretty much treasure for every crafter player in this game. It’s extremely cheap but could be made into extremely profitable items for sell. And you can find it almost anywhere in the market.
Wasting no time, Steven went for a NPC stand on the side of the street, and asked for a total of 15 Wood, 6 Iron and 3 Crystals for beginners. That should give him enough for the next few days. The NPC was, at first meeting of this man, a little surprised with the total purchase, but now he is too used to that, to the point that he didn’t even question anything, he just grabbed the woods and add it to his inventory, not before asking for confirmation and transaction. Near 300 Renn is nothing, so Steven clicked Yes to complete the transaction.
As he purchase quite more than his strength level, he had his entire body emptied aside for clothing only. It did feel a little unsafe walking without weapons, but he had been like this for the last 7 days, he was used to it. But still, he should raise the strength level up a little more, or he’d collapse from all the stress he built up from all those carryings.
Or, he could…
Xenos grumbled to himself as he swayed on the chair Sebastian provided. Apparently he was expected to help set up the old man’s festival decorations to “pay back all that time spent loitering around my shop.” Marie just laughed as Xenos tried to half heartedly whine his way out of the situation but the old man already settled the matter and threw a long strand of multicolored flags at him. That's how he ended up one foot on the back rest, the other on tiptoe, and swaying nervously as he tried to tie up the flags.
“Ugh, I’m a designer first and a doer second. In fact, doing anything is very much at the bottom of the list unless I can make it explode or go fast or it gets me drunk.” Xenos grumbled at Sebastian, who just chucked and shook his head, as he finally looped it over the wood. He tipped forward a little more to make the knot and he tumbled forward, hitting the ground with a shout. He groaned before sitting up, glaring at the flags settling on him. “Why don’t you have like a ladder or something?! See this is exactly why I stick with stuff that I make. I am good at exactly one thing and I stuck at everything else. I call that everything else is called Life and Life likes to take me out back and beat me with a baseball just before selling me a few handles.”
Xenos glared at an unsympathetic Sebastian when something caught his eye. Nothing particularly noteworthy, just the username. Steven. It was jarring. A sudden reminder that there were still people outside the game that he knew. That this sham of a world wasn't everything he’d ever known and that his friends and family were still outside going on with their lives in reality. Dread welled up inside him. He’d managed to shrug of these thoughts for these ten days. Guess there had to be a reckoning some-
“Wait a minute.” Xenos shut off his pathetic thoughts for a moment, his eyes narrowing as he watched “Steven” move through the market. There is no way that was…
“Steven!” Xenos leapt from the ground and bolted towards the other player. “Oye, Steven!” He grinned.
Steven was an eccentric guy, according to people who had interacted with him. He was regarded by many as shy, though that was just a social stereotypes, based on the number of social friends he ever had. This was hardly the truth, as Steven did also have a number of friends at his side, that he only allowed to be part of his circle through careful interaction. Almost all of whom he knew and content to know that they wouldn’t be touching the VR Gear for this game anytime soon.
However, that was almost. There were a few exceptions to the rules.
And one of it was…
“Xenos? Oh my goodness.” He never would have wanted anybody he knew to be following the same path as he did, but he just couldn’t deny that the possibility is not zero percent. Nevertheless he gave the man a big smile before extending his hand for a shake, his typical sign for friendliness. Call him pedantic if you will. ”I honestly do not think you’d be in this place.” He deliberately tried not to voice his exact thoughts in his mind. ”It’s marvelous to see you again. How have you been doing in this game?”
Xenos rolled his eyes and laughed, shaking his hand energetically. “And why’d you think that? I would have been insane not to snatch up a copy of this ASAP! Well, that’s what I thought at the time.” Xenos shrugged. “Since then I’ve confirmed mining sucks, they programmed hangovers to exist, joined a guild, and created a grenade launcher which reminds me that I need to advertise that on the dashboard for some extra Renn. Next plan is to get the guild leader to hold onto his horses long enough for me to upgrade most of the guild’s equipment.” Xenos listed off. He relaxed into the familiarity of their interaction, surprisingly thankful he bumped into someone he knew from outside. “So not bad, managing to keep the existential dread at bay with jokes and alcohol. You know, the usual. How about you? Whatcha been up to this whole time?”
”Nothing as exciting as you of course.” He made a remark in a slightly joking manner. ”But it was something. So the first day I drained all my Renn and stayed on the street because Malgoth think it is fun to make virtual starving and sleep a real thing.” He said dryly. ”But then the next day I went for a hunt and investigated the market. Proceeded to spam weapons to sell to NPCs for quick profit. Pretty much the same thing for the last seven days.” He was content enough to use some of the more recent and informal words and joking, albeit in a dry fashion, just to mirror the joy he had upon meeting one of his friend who he had known since university.
”But today I feel obliged to learn some skills along with buying these ingredients. I’m hopelessly behind now.” He said, before paying notice to what Xenos just said about creating a grenade launcher. ”You play as tinker? So am I! I guess great minds do think alike.” He joked again. ”But I’m nowhere near inventing anything yet, which I intend to learn it right now.”
”Oh shit, Tinker buddies! Okay one sec, I gotta finish this thing for a friend and I’ll be right back.” He ran back to the food stall and hurriedly tied up the ribbons, said a quick goodbye to the pair, and slid back next to Steven. ”Okay, alright let’s go see the trainer! But you didn’t pick up invent? It’s literally the best thing about this game let me tell you. I mean, how awesome is it to just change the entirety of the game for 600 mp? I mean, think about all the firepower you can make with that. Just imagine making some giant contraption to carry around like a hundred cannons. Then make the cannon balls explode and boom. Done and done!” He started gesturing wildly as he spoke, getting more and more excited as he went on. “And if I ever get my hands on a guild house, what do you think I’m gunna build in the walls? If you’re thinking cannons, they you are correct! And have them in panels in the outer walls and shit so when some dickbag tries to pillage us, I just pull a lever and sudden WHAM! One hundred explosive cannon balls to the face!” Xenos kept talking, running his mouth a mile a minute as he started walking towards the Tinker trainer.
”Oops, here I am rambling again! So what are your plans from here on forward then?” Xenos asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets as they walked.
As Xenos walked for his food stall, the man behind the thick glass silently waited. He hadn’t changed much, even after he had been pulled into this hellhole. The man must have a good degree of adaptation there. After a short while, he came back and was ready to go.
”I really do want invent. But the last seven days were all about reining some money, so...” He lightly shrugged his shoulders as Xenos began his long talk about the Invent skill. Man, he couldn’t help but draw comparison between himself, a super quiet person, and Xenos, who just couldn’t seem to stop. But right then, he asked Steven what he had planned for now. He did intend to use invent to, well obviously, invent things. But what he had in mind didn’t really fit the concept of invent. Innovation would rather be a better word.
”Hmm, I am thinking of improving the design of my current weapon. I had a Flintlock Rifle with me for hunting and so on, but the accuracy is...mediocre. The range is just terrible while the reload speed is a pain.” The fact that it mirrored the real flintlock, both in terms of pros and cons, in real life is not something unexpected out of a video game. ”You can probably enhance that, I’m not sure, but I’m confident mechanics like breech-loading or attachments like scopes couldn’t be accessible via that.”
He stopped for a bit, thinking about what his future plans are. ”I think I’d need both Upgrade and Invent for the future, as I may invent something completely new as well, but I’m not entirely sure what is needed at the moment. I’m not sure about this mechanic of the game at this part, really.”
”Yeah, I’ve been playing with the idea of breech-loading for a few days but I had to put it on the backburner to deal with the AoE needs of the next dungeon. Although the reload speed without action assist does suck, you will need to employ invent to create the altered reload style. How do I explain this easiest…” Xenos frowned a little before snapping his fingers. “If you need to change the base materials or design of a concept, you need to use Invent. If you want to add onto a current design, you can use upgrade. For example if you create an iron breech-loading rifle, you’ll have to use Invent again to redesign it since you are changing a base material. If you just want to add a scope, you use upgrade and it gains an accuracy buff.” He stopped the pair in front of a worn down looking shop, display window smudged with soot. The paint was peeling slightly and a cloud of heavy smoke billowed from a crooked chimney. Xenos winked at Steven and threw open the door.
”Hey, old geezer! You ready to impart some knowledge on-” Xenos shouted gleefully before an unexpected cloud of steam hissed out of a contraption and straight into Xenos’ face. He coughed and waved the stream away. ”Damn it Sid! I told you that thing needs to be moved!”
”Hmm...” Steven placed his fingers on his chin. Not so distinct but recognizable mechanic it is. But in that case, he’d need both invent AND upgrade. Steven wasn’t sure if upgrade is purchasable right now, but knowing the root behind it, he could actually come up with an add on but change the design of it, maybe, just maybe, he could put it into one action.
By the time he arrived at the destination, a great sense of oddness loomed over the two. The place stood out among all buildings due to its steampunk style of decoration, lying in the middle of magical fairytales and fantasy. And it wasn’t necessarily great. The dirtiness and seemingly desolation of the place did put his mood down a little, comparing to the energetic sun out there.
As Steven walked into the store, the weird contraption next to him just hissed hot steam into his face like a dragon blowing fire. Hot and humid, his visions were blurred, similar to how he usually walk into the ramen shop during a cold winter’s night. Swiftly, he lifted the glasses off his eyes and proceeded to clean the lens with his clothes before putting it back on again, before anyone could notice.
The shop’s interior reflected its exterior, in slapdash condition and horribly cluttered. A long workbench ran along the backside of the shop while tables littered the rest of the room and shelves seemed to be slapped up on the wall with no particular order. Everything was filled to the brim with trinkets and gizmos, more than some seemingly unfinished. A rickety set of stairs led to the next floor. Xenos rolled his eyes and grabbed a metal pipe and banged on the low ceiling.
“For an NPC trainer, he is stupidly dedicated to avoiding his responsibilities.” Xenos explained to Steven. “First day, he shows up looking somewhat decent and put together. Day ten, he runs like we’re the plague if he can.” From upstairs, there was a muffled shout, a loud BANG, and a string of furious curses as heavy thudding crossed to the stairs.
“I swear I will burn this place down with all of us in it if you don’t stop that racket!” Sid stomped down the stairs, a scowl on his face. He lifted the seeing piece off his eye and ran his hand down his face, groaning. He had dark bags under his eyes and he seemed to sway ever so slightly. “Didn’t I just teach you something yesterday? Go away. I’m busy.”
“Its been four days Sid.” Xenos said dryly, putting down the pipe. He slung his arm over Steven’s shoulders. “This cool cat here is trying to learn some stuff too. So why don’t you do your job, take our money, and then I don’t know, take a nap?” Sid just rolled his eyes and huffed before looking at Steven. He looked him up and down, pulled down his eyeglass, and peered intently at Steven like he was trying to see through the man. He did this for a few minutes, periodically adjusting the lens. He huffed.
“I guess you’ll do.” The man grumbled. “What do you want?” Xenos leaned over and whispered “Oooh, high praise. I had to bribe the guy to teach me.”
”You are certainly helpful, thank you.” The sudden change of tone would certainly be irritating to someone like him, but Steven didn’t care about what this NPC thinks. As the man was peering skeptically at Steven like he was trying to assess him, the man with the heavy glasses were also making his mind-and-body reading back, although through the thick layer of glasses, one could never know what he is scheming.
”I figure you must be very ‘occupied’, so I’ll be brief.” He said, pushing his glasses up with his index finger. ”I wish to learn your marvelous ‘Invent’ action, in addition to Keen Eye and Tinkering About. If that is reasonable with you?”
”Yeah sure kid. 7 Silver and I’ll teach ya.” The man huffed back, arms crossed. A notification popped up in front of Steven.
Learn Tinkering About, Keen Eye, and Invent for 7 silver?
7 Silver. That’s surprisingly cheap…
Steven did not put any hesitation in his choice as he confirmed the transaction, watching as his Renn began to drop.
Xenos pestered the man into teaching him auto-load while Steven did his own things, sobbing dramatically as he watched his Renn total drop.
The process was rather fast. He didn’t even need to spend 5 minutes in this cramped and oil-stenched place. The faster they did, the better. Steven just didn’t feel so comfortable in this place. As soon as he finished, he thanked the instructor before quietly turned around and exited the store, only looking back at Xenos, waiting for him to come out as well.
”Okay! Wanna grab a bite and catch up? I feel like it's been forever since we’ve had a chance to hang!” Xenos exclaimed. ”Plus, who can say no to free food.” He shot Steven a grin. “Let's go see what's on the menu around here.”
Steven comes to the Solace Festival, with his inventory empty, bought 15 Wood, 6 Iron, 3 Crystals, then meet up with Xenos, went on to learn 3 new actions at the Trainer (Tinkering About, Invent and Keen Eye). Currently outside the Tinkering store, going to eat.
Steven’s Renn: 2382 -> 2097 (15 Wood, 6 Iron, 3 Crystals) -> 1922 (Learn Invent, Tinkering About and Keen Eye)
-Fell off a chair -Encountered Steve -Met up with the Tinker Trainer -Spent 25 Renn to learn Auto-Load -Going to eat
One of the most promising minds of the age, Masato is currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science before the event of Talrae happened, specifically about the FullDive technology used in Virtual Reality and its effects both short-termed and long-termed. Grew up in an eccentric, formal yet highly-educated family, Masato was pressured into following the family tradition, in which all of family members were grown to finish university with at least a Master's degree in their hands. One may have thought the family might be a little bit too pressing on such a child like him, but he surprisingly kept on with the tradition, as he landed a scholarship abroad for various high schools and later universities relatively easily.
His passion in Computer Science emerged as he was among the first generations to experience the technological revolution, in specifically VR technology. He was only seven when he first dived into his first VR game, which is actually a retake on one of the most popular games of the previous century. Born a curious child, and amazed by the technology, he was motivated to study Computer Science as a result. As the child's wonder and curiosity did not conflict with his education (due to good self-control) and the family's interests, everybody gladly let him had his world. VR games served as his entertainment tool ever since.
Masato studied university in England for four years before returning to Japan, one of the leading countries in technological advancement. There, he managed to get himself a pretty well-paid but tiring job at a tech company, but he left after a year, after finding it too boring and soul-consuming. He returned to academia and enrolled in a PhD course at one of the universities near his place, with the intention of re-emerging in the world he once was so curious about.
By the time Talrae happened, Masato was in the second year of his doctoral studies, doing research and gathering information for his thesis paper. Seeing how Talrae was one of the most popular VRMMO RPG games of all time, he found it to be a great opportunity for both his studies and relaxation. He wasted no time purchasing a copy of the game and entered the game under the name Steven. Now who knows if, and how, he would be able to continue that research and relaxation now.
Personality:
The first impression ever to come out of this young man is his near silent attitude. He rarely ever speak not out of shyness, but because he did not find the necessity to talk to other people. He is a clear scientific definition of an introvert, someone who is more concerned with one's own thoughts and feelings rather than external things. His social and communication skills is, to everybody's surprise, relatively decent. Once engaged in a conversation, he is perfectly capable of maintaining it, or even extending it. It's just that him being interested in a casual conversation is not something to be granted.
An adapter in many situations, he firmly believes that those who are more responsive to changes are the ones who will succeed. As a result Masato usually emerges with a calm head and a cool face, rarely ever losing his temperament and formality even in critical situations. As he is usually seen wandering with his thoughts and own complexities, you can never guess what is in his mind when he does not speak. But it does not necessarily mean that he is a heartless person. By contrast, he is actually quite a sweetheart and compassionate when it comes to people going through hard times, and he will try his best to assist you to be successful if you are and beyond friends with him, in his own ways.
After riskily spent all of his Renn in learning skills and buying items, Steven found himself in a tough scenario, as he was without place to stay or food to eat. He had to spend the first night in the street without food. But as rational and efficient he is, Steven soon sprang into action as he embarked on making money out of what he has. He initially spent most of the second day farming weak monsters, for marginal profit to buy ingredients and rent an inn for stays. When night came, he journeyed into town, collecting data of item prices and ingredients and calculated the profit for each craft, finding out which items would give him the most Renn for each craft. For the next week, Steven mostly, if not only, focused on crafting weapons and sell them to NPCs, earning him quite a lot of money, stabilizing his life for the current time being
As Steven particularly avoids large combat and spent all his time on crafting and enriching himself, he did not invest in learning further actions yet. Until now
Curiosity over Money (1/Tinker): Whenever user is given Renn by GM, user may choose to give up 25% of it to gain 1 point in Tinkering Skill. Passive. Tinker (1/Tinker): User crafts an item that exists in the game. Any items may be attempted even without facilities but all ingredients must be present. Chances of successes increases with facilities and Smithing/Tinkering Skill. 300MP. Shot bounce (1/Tinker): User's ranged attack bounces to a secondary target, dealing 50% damage. 100MP. Tinkering About (1/Tinker): User tinkers with an item, small chance of repairing it. Cannot be used on heavily damaged items. 50MP. Keen Eye (1/Tinker): User may take extra time with their aim, giving a ranged attack small chance for critical strike. Passive. Invent (5/Tinker): User designs and invents an item. User will design every aspect of this item, including any potential unique Actions (up to 1) that may be learned and used. Final design must be consulted with the GM for approval. Item is not crafted upon using this Action. Items designed with Invent may only be crafted using Tinker Action. 600MP.
Design: The weapon is basically an improved version of the Flintlock Rifle, with a slight increase in bullet trajectory, twice the range of the weapon thanks to the telescopic sight added onto the top of the gun. The gun also contains a sturdy leather strap for easy movements. Near the gun's muzzle, there exist a bipod to increase the gun's accuracy in longer ranged shots (but cannot be used until the bipod action is designed), and to place the gun in a nice upright position when not under a player's hand.
Bonus: Double the range comparing to normal Flintlock Rifle. Slight increase in damage when fired under normal ranged weapon's range
Unique Action (later on):
-Bipod: When the user go prone, he or she can use the weapon's bipod to further increase the stability of the weapon, thus increasing accuracy in longer ranged shots (100 MP) -Trajectory Calculation: User may take longer time to aim down the gun's scope, giving higher chances of hitting moving opponents. (Cannot use in conjunction with Keen Eye) (200MP)
Miscellaneous: -The in-game name Steven comes from his English name that he chose for himself during his study trips abroad. He use the name in the game thinking it is cool and easy to pronounce in case people from other countries play the game.
That was probably the most horrible night he ever had. Not the most, but still unpleasant as his bottom was numbed from all those time spent sitting down on his chair. Not to mention he was still in the suit from yesterday, as getting himself changed was one nigh-impossible task once his legs are useless. It was during these times that he knew the full value of having Jeanie by his side. Disabled people usually try to be as normal as they could, saying how they were still as capable as a physically abled, but the real truth is that they still have to rely on some people in some aspects. Thomas knew that, so for those that he had to rely on Jeanie, he'd be more accepting.
"Hello. I'm home." Heard the sound of his life coming back to him. "Oh my goodness me." The woman immediately rushed for Thomas, noticing in the shape he was in.
A rather 'interesting' event to start the weekend...
Solaris Universatas - Monday
"Come in Thomas." The professor called as Thomas stood, or in his case sat, by the door, being the last student aboard his class. With the confirmation that he was allowed to come in, he pushed the joystick forward, thrusting him deep into the room, parking right at the end of the table.
"Alright. Doesn't look like you boys have been faring well with your assignments." Once Thomas settled in, the professor began to look over the sheets he had on his hand. "Brian, the probability is not 1/2. It's 2/3. Yeah, I know. You need to rethink that." He turned to one student, passing the paper to him. "And Rie, it's...just baffling." And then to him.
Once everybody was passed, he turned to Thomas. "Have you done it?"
"Oh, sorry professor..." He scoured through his bag for the paper. "Here."
He placed the paper on the table, and other students automatically passed it to the other end of the table.
"The final one's more complicated than I thought. I could only do nine."
The word left everybody in complete silence. The professor spent a moment looking over the paper he just gave him. It really is true. He finished nine out of the ten impeccable questions.
One student turned to Thomas, still baffled. "Nine?" By the time everybody was leaving the room, the professor stopped the one latest out of the classroom. Who else...
"Thomas. I want to talk to you a little bit." He said. "No no, you're not in trouble. It's just something I want to discuss."
"Sure professor. What is it?"
"If you don't mind, we can discuss it while we have our breakfast. A late breakfast shall we?"
Coffee Pot - Monday
"Coffee Pot? You have a good taste professor." Said Thomas as he rolled down the street of Sol City, followed closely by a tall and nicely dressed man in a nice grey suit and tie.
"I know right? I'm surprised I did not find this place sooner than I should."
"But anyway, what is it that you want to talk about?"
"I figure you may have asked." The professor said. "Well, I read all the questions you did. And I saw something intriguing."
"About the solution?"
"No, about you." He replied. "You see, I've had my doubts and so on about your thesis subject. It is not really a safe one, as it falls greatly on the line of debates. But the great thing about walking on those lines is that one will never know whom on those lines would be the one making a great leap forward, and when."
'Leap forward...' In silence he thought.
"So I want to give an invitation. Soon, there will be a well-known professor from overseas coming to Solaris for a week's lecture about neuroscience. It is open for everyone, even outsiders, but only those invited would have a good seat for the presentation. Since it is for everyone, so I expect it to not be so complicated, but there will be interesting key points from his recent studies that you may want to use."
"Hmm..." Thomas was still rolling down the street, as he was in deep thoughts. The lecture is indeed for everyone, so it shouldn't be anything he expected, but if he did not attend, he may miss some of the important, and perhaps essential breakthrough points for his thesis. He should not be wasting any opportunity.
"I think that's a great idea. Thank you professor." He gladly gave a smile back.
"No problem. Ah, here we are." He replied, before modestly lend the way for Thomas to go in first.
The two men walked, one rolling, into the café, taking a nearby seat, next to a window. While the wheelchair-bound student was trying to settle in, the other man walked to get their orders. "Eggs, bacon and sausages?" He briefly turned back to Thomas as the man in question gave a thumbs-up. Easy but tasty breakfast, coming up...
One of the most promising minds of the age, Masato is currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science before the event of Talrae happened, specifically about the FullDive technology used in Virtual Reality and its effects both short-termed and long-termed. Grew up in an eccentric, formal yet highly-educated family, Masato was pressured into following the family tradition, in which all of family members were grown to finish university with at least a Master's degree in their hands. One may have thought the family might be a little bit too pressing on such a child like him, but he surprisingly kept on with the tradition, as he landed a scholarship abroad for various high schools and later universities relatively easily.
His passion in Computer Science emerged as he was among the first generations to experience the technological revolution, in specifically VR technology. He was only seven when he first dived into his first VR game, which is actually a retake on one of the most popular games of the previous century. Born a curious child, and amazed by the technology, he was motivated to study Computer Science as a result. As the child's wonder and curiosity did not conflict with his education (due to good self-control) and the family's interests, everybody gladly let him had his world. VR games served as his entertainment tool ever since.
Masato studied university in England for four years before returning to Japan, one of the leading countries in technological advancement. There, he managed to get himself a pretty well-paid but tiring job at a tech company, but he left after a year, after finding it too boring and soul-consuming. He returned to academia and enrolled in a PhD course at one of the universities near his place, with the intention of re-emerging in the world he once was so curious about.
By the time Talrae happened, Masato was in the second year of his doctoral studies, doing research and gathering information for his thesis paper. Seeing how Talrae was one of the most popular VRMMO RPG games of all time, he found it to be a great opportunity for both his studies and relaxation. He wasted no time purchasing a copy of the game and entered the game under the name Steven. Now who knows if, and how, he would be able to continue that research and relaxation now.
Personality:
The first impression ever to come out of this young man is his near silent attitude. He rarely ever speak not out of shyness, but because he did not find the necessity to talk to other people. He is a clear scientific definition of an introvert, someone who is more concerned with one's own thoughts and feelings rather than external things. His social and communication skills is, to everybody's surprise, relatively decent. Once engaged in a conversation, he is perfectly capable of maintaining it, or even extending it. It's just that him being interested in a casual conversation is not something to be granted.
An adapter in many situations, he firmly believes that those who are more responsive to changes are the ones who will succeed. As a result Masato usually emerges with a calm head and a cool face, rarely ever losing his temperament and formality even in critical situations. As he is usually seen wandering with his thoughts and own complexities, you can never guess what is in his mind when he does not speak. But it does not necessarily mean that he is a heartless person. By contrast, he is actually quite a sweetheart and compassionate when it comes to people going through hard times, and he will try his best to assist you to be successful if you are and beyond friends with him, in his own ways.
After riskily spent all of his Renn in learning skills and buying items, Steven found himself in a tough scenario, as he was without place to stay or food to eat. He had to spend the first night in the street without food. But as rational and efficient he is, Steven soon sprang into action as he embarked on making money out of what he has. He initially spent most of the second day farming weak monsters, for marginal profit to buy ingredients and rent an inn for stays. When night came, he journeyed into town, collecting data of item prices and ingredients and calculated the profit for each craft, finding out which items would give him the most Renn for each craft. For the next week, Steven mostly, if not only, focused on crafting weapons and sell them to NPCs, earning him quite a lot of money, stabilizing his life for the current time being
As Steven particularly avoids large combat and spent all his time on crafting and enriching himself, he did not invest in learning further actions yet. Until now
Curiosity over Money (1/Tinker): Whenever user is given Renn by GM, user may choose to give up 25% of it to gain 1 point in Tinkering Skill. Passive. Tinker (1/Tinker): User crafts an item that exists in the game. Any items may be attempted even without facilities but all ingredients must be present. Chances of successes increases with facilities and Smithing/Tinkering Skill. 300MP. Shot bounce (1/Tinker): User's ranged attack bounces to a secondary target, dealing 50% damage. 100MP.
Items: Sturdy Clothes: 25 Renn Flintlock Rifle: 450 Renn Gunpowder (20): 160 Renn Ironshot (20): 30 Renn Penetrator (20): 50 Renn Miscellaneous: -The in-game name Steven comes from his English name that he chose for himself during his study trips abroad. He use the name in the game thinking it is cool and easy to pronounce in case people from other countries play the game.
Member
CitrusArms
PapaOso
The Otter
pkken
princess
Creative Chaos
Lunamaria Hawke
Visyn
Fading Memory
