Duoya

Afterlife: Dead Sun

The others seemed to listen to Troy's suggestion, as they began to march away from the monstrosity approaching. Since his back was turned and he had no intention of looking behind him, Troy never saw the form of Bal, or his decision to confront the beast and buy time for the others. Instead, he focused on holding the girl up - she obviously wasn't heavy compared to some of the others, but the 20 milligram insects under his skin struggled to support her weight along with his own. They were slower than the others, but luckily, the group was considerate enough to slow down for the pair once they were out of sight of the beast. This was the time that Troy looked over his companions.

The masked spirit held a large, burning lantern, and was similar to Troy in that he kept many features of a spirit. The next was the girl he was carrying, obviously the least monstrous of them all... but also the most shocked. She must have had trouble getting used to her body... The thought caused Troy to briefly wonder how he managed to be so good at walking and moving, despite his entire physiology being changed and lacking muscles... Well, at the very least, the girl was polite enough to thank him for the help. When she expressed her thanks, Troy simply nodded and continued the march, doing his best to keep up with the others. The beast was long and skeletal, the legs clearly being made to cut and tear through flesh and sinew. Troy did his best to keep away from it. The man in armor, the fool that nearly engaged in combat with the flying monster - he was of average height, and seemed to move almost robotically... Speaking of which, the last individual was the robot man, whom Troy honestly didn't pay much attention to - he was near the lead of the party, and Troy was concentrating on supporting the girl.

The group traveled for a short period of time, eventually finding the stone bridge. They had entered the cavern, and Troy could feel the insects in his body tense slightly at the sight of the man in the center. He was robed in black cloth, which covered his face - all that could be seen was the glowing red staff he held, and the skin on his hands. Troy brief reached his free hand, which he regained after the girl started to just use his shoulder for support. Her words stopped him just as his hand reached the hole in his face.

"Thank you...I think I should be fine now, with the generous help of you and your little friends..."

The voice was briefly cut off when she also noticed the man, and she stepped away from Troy, finally regaining her balance and ability to walk. The insects under Troy's skin wiggled gratefully, thankful to be free of the extra weight. Troy kept the hand near his face tensed, ready to throw at a moments notice, when he called out.

“This way! I will show you the way out!”

Troy was still tense, not believing this man for a second - nothing in this hell was nice, the only thing he could rely on was the group. Unfortunately, the man decided to leave them, having turned into the form of a crimson bird, before taking flight and unleashing a piercing shriek. It continued to do so as it flew, seemingly alerting the cavern to it's presence... Dammit... Troy watched as the spindly legs of the creatures climbed down slowly from the ceiling, unaware of the ones already below the bridge. The would easily tear them apart, and looking down, Troy saw the alternative - a pool of burning liquid, releasing a horrid stench. It radiated heat of ridiculous proportions, and Troy knew that he would die if he even attempted to go down there. The creatures continued their advance, slowly approaching the bridge... It wasn't until an arc of green fire shot from behind him that hope revealed itself. The same flame that the masked spirit used flew from it's lantern, and landed accurately on the wall in front of them, causing the creatures to recoil in fear of the flames.

"Go, dear friends, follow the sound of the bird! I don't think it will stay long! I will follow after I finish this blockage...!"

The advice to follow the bird was foolish in Troy's eyes - the thing called a hoard of monster on the group! But the masked spirit made an excellent opportunity, and he turned to look at the group to prepare running. The girl was looking at him, and began to speak.

"...I'm going to go help her...if you know you can't do anything, then please run away."

She then began to walk forwards and, after summoning a perfectly white sphere from seemingly nowhere, firing a beam of what looked like ice at the ground to stop the creatures on the other side. Troy began to run towards the other end of the bridge, the obvious choice. As he did so, he dug into his skull and pulled out roughly 1000 of the disgusting worm-like insects. They wriggled, forming a tight ball by biting into one another, and Troy launched the projectile at one of the creatures in front of them, hitting it squarely in the throat. Hundreds fell into the pool below, and a ball not even weighing a pound thrown by a weakling didn't hurt much. But the maggots that did latch on began to dig into the flesh, drilling through the mouth and attempting to go to the brain. This distracted the creature enough to flail wildly, losing it's grip and even slamming one of the monsters below it off the wall, both falling violently into the pool. Troy finished running the distance, and made it to the other side, relative safety. He then turned to see his companions, still valiantly holding off the monsters...

The smart decision would be to run, leave them behind, and avoid the crow man. He left them, alerted the creatures to their presence, and was still screeching his head off...

Instead, Troy reached into his head, pulling out a similarly sized ball, and entering into a throwing position, almost unconsciously. His fingers gripped the ball, while his eyes locked directly with the torso of the creature approaching the ice. Winding back his arm, he tossed the ball with strong force, allowing it to cross the distance of the bridge and slam into the monsters back, eliciting a violent hiss as the maggots immediately began to devour it alive. This one managed to hang on for awhile, but the sensation was too painful to ignore, and it reached back to dig out the maggots, resulting in it falling into the pool. Troy should have ran after that. But he simply reached into his skull again, preparing to toss another ball.

"I'll cover you guys, so hurry!"

The second his companions made it across, he would run as fast as he could. Until then... Well, he should try and protect the others.

closed

Will also try to get a post out tomorrow.

✧ Talrae ✧ (LOOKING FOR CO-GM)

Theodore Smith

Dirk Davidson

Interactions: @Achronum@Tybalt Capulet

---

Theo nodded slightly as Aster agreed with him - good. Dirk was the kind of guy that helped others, so Theo needed to help her, both with learning the game, and defending the two of them. The dark thought that, with less armor, he'd be more important flashed across his mind, but was quickly dismissed. Dirk wouldn't think that. Still, they were wasting time - some people in the crowds were already starting to recuperate, and while most would be too afraid to go out and grind, it would be best to stay ahead of the curve. When this is all revealed to be some sick joke, they would be some of the strongest people in the entire game. Hell, who knows - maybe a strong guild will be formed, and Dirk will be invited as the strongest tank in the game... Well, wishful thinking isn't needed right now. The thoughts rushing through Theo's mind stopped him from noticing Kajin's twitching, and the lack of confidence in his voice.

“Okay. That’s not a bad idea either. I still think it’d be best to equip you with even cloth armor but if we are confident we will be okay without it, we can hunt down a quest."

Dirk gave a thumbs up and winked slightly, with the same toothy smile he had been giving the entire time. Theo was definitely getting too good at playing Dirk.

“However, if I run out of mana we need to back out. Healing spells at this level are expensive and I can only cast six before I’m out of mana, seven if my passive triggers on four of the six casts. Dirk is right, I doubt anything outside of dungeons will be excessively challenging but we should keep a high safety margin until we get a better understanding of the game. And since I can’t afford a first aid kit yet, we don’t have any secondary resources in the event things get hairy.”

"Of course. I personally have no idea how healing works in this game, but if you say so, I won't argue. Besides, we don't know how fast the regen in this game is. If you run out of mana, backing off is the smart choice."

Theo personally thought he could go a little longer without any healing, purely based on his pool of health, but that was because of his experience with other games, and the fact he had not yet accepted the fact they could all actually die. In other games, starting area monsters are usually weak, and a single player can reliably solo them, so of course, Theo thought the caution was a bit too much. But then again, if they don't regenerate health or mana after a fight and have to rest, backing off would be a smart choice. Dirk would follow a teammates advice. Kajin was a healer for a reason, he knew how to heal - No reason to question him on something Theo didn't even bother to read during character creation.

“So this is what I recommend we do then. Let’s hunt down a few quests. The first thing Aster spends her Renn on is armor then we keep questing until level 3. After that, depending on how we feel, we could try poking our noses in one of the dungeons on this floor. If the first pull is too much, we run like hell."

A friend invite popped in front of Theo, and Kajin continued.

"If we get separated or have to leave party, we can always find each other through this. Just in case you know? Not sure what we’re going to run into after all! And once we do this, I think our brave and daring tank can lead the way to our first quest, yeah?"

Dirk hit accept. Smart thinking - Theo wouldn't have thought of using the friend system as a communication device, and it's always good to be prepared. Theo noticed at this point that Kajin was a little uncomfortable. A few seconds pass before Theo thinks up a response.

"Smart thinking. man! Good to know we're all already buddies!"

Theo gave Kajin a swift pat to the back, before wrapping his arm around Kajin's shoulder. Then, in a low, much more serious tone, Theo spoke.

"And don't worry about the whole dying thing... As long as I'm alive, I'll make sure you and Aster don't take a single point of damage."

He said it low, almost whispering into Kajin's ear. After all, he was trying to ease Kajin's worries, not embarrass him by comforting him in front of a girl. He clapped his hand on Kajin's shoulder 2 times, before readopting his Dirk voice.

"And you're right to leave the quest-hunting to me! After all, the best way to find a miscellaneous quest is to find..."

Dirk began to look for something, leaning forwards and being very exaggerated. Then he pointed at the bulletin board, located near the front of the city square.

"There! A quest would be super hard to ask around for in this kind of game, so most should be written up and in a place everyone can easily get to."

Theo trudged forwards, his snail pace, carrying him reliably towards his goal. He silently prayed that their was an item or something that increases speed... But eventually, they make it there, revealing countless pieces of papers stuck to the wooden board. 4 in particular stood out, as they were on the front and the paper color was attention grabbing. They were long, and had the signatures of the respective quest givers at the bottom. 4 separate quests appeared in quick succession in front of Theo, all of which he declined after reading. He wanted to talk with the party before deciding. He half-turned, to look directly at the two behind him, showing them the 4 options from his menu.

"What do you guys think? I say we accept them all, and do the Boar and Blacksmith quest first. Then, when Kajin runs out of mana and we come back, we can do the other two. But if you guys would prefer doing it another way, I'm all for it."

An extended arm, thumbs up, wink, and... big smile. Perfect. Dirk wasn't the kind of guy that took control of people - he gave them choices, had them make the decisions. Besides, he was completely useless without a damage dealer, and would run out of HP fast without a healer - he needed them. Even though he thought that was the best plan, he was going to let them choose - he wanted them to like Dirk.

Afterlife: Dead Sun

Actually, I think I'll wait until after @Tenma Tendo to post, I'm not sure if my character would still be helping their character walk for that long, and it would probably be easier than just writing around that.

✧ Talrae ✧ (LOOKING FOR CO-GM)

I'll post sometime tomorrow.

Afterlife: Dead Sun

@Holy Soldier
I was waiting for the others to post first, but I'll write up a post by tomorrow.

✧ Talrae ✧ (LOOKING FOR CO-GM)

@Achronum
Whoops, sorry about that. Fixing that right now.

✧ Talrae ✧ (LOOKING FOR CO-GM)

Theodore Smith

Dirk Davidson

Interactions: @Achronum@Tybalt Capulet

---

The two were both surprised by Theo's sudden arrival, but that was to be expected. He was significantly taller than the both of them, and was arguably the best equipped thanks to his starting buckler. That, combined with his well defined physique, he was worried they might think he was trying to lure them somewhere dangerous and kill them for their equipment. N-not that Theo ever did that, especially when he played as Dirk. Luckily, they both agreed to accept his party invite, and while Dirk was relaxed and cocky, Theo was immensely relieved. He had highly specialized his starting attributes, and he doubted he would be able to kill even low level mobs with his current stats. As they did so, the girl was the first to speak.

"I'd... I'd be happy to join you both. I'm Aster, a swordsman. Kajin Najin? Do you have a nickname, maybe something a bit shorter? Kajin, or just Kaj? And you, Mr. Davidson, do you prefer to just go by Dirk? I-I'll be honest with you both. As much as I'd love to be in a party with you, I'm not actually very experienced with games like this. I plan to improve, so that I can survive, but as it stands now, I've never even fought a monster or player before."

As soon as she finished, Theo started his usual process - he entered deep thought, doing his best to pick what dirk would say. Perhaps he would offer assurance that he would keep the fair maiden safe, or offer advice on games... for some reason, the process was significantly easier than it usually was, most likely because of the acting skill. The thought that a skill in a video game was effecting how he thought was quite disturbing, in all honesty, but Theo was too busy to focus on it for long. Instead, he was silently thankful that Aster was a swordsman - it allowed the party to have some actual DPS without wasting Kajin's mana. Before he had the chance to speak up, Kajin spoke.

“Thanks for the party invite. What’s the point of having me around if I don’t keep you alive? So I’ll do my best as well! Absolutely call me Kajin! I just expect everyone to call me that anyways, no need to use my last name if you don’t need to.”

After saying that, Kajin's attention was drawn to Aster's attire, causing Theo to do the same - she had no armor. While this was normally no problem, she was a swordsman, which weren't the most agile class that needed low armor to achieve their full potential. Along with this, she was dressed in nicer clothes, akin to what the NPCs wore. While that was nice, it did mean that she wasted money on a purely cosmetic item... But whatever. Dirk wouldn't care if a girl wanted to wear nice clothes - he'd just fight hard to make sure they were safe. Theo had to do the same.

“So Aster, the game can be taught. We all have to level anyway so we’ll do some grinding to get you in shape! However, there is a minor issue that occurred to me. Really it’s trivial but its best to cover all our bases. Now see this here? We call this armor. When you take damage, it reduces the amount taken depending on several variables. Useful in a death game, I’m sure you could imagine. I can’t help but notice you aren’t wearing any but you are wearing nicer clothes than most. You wouldn’t happen to have some floating around in your inventory no? Maybe some Renn to purchase some? Because if not, I’ll need to make some for you because I’m not taking anyone out that doesn’t have some form of protection."

After that, he turned towards Theo, and continued to speak.

“Oh Dirk, have you played around with the actions command yet? I’m not sure if they trigger the same as spells since I don’t have any actions yet. Probably should have taken staff block but Mana Payback was too nice to pass up!”

Lightheadedness overcame Theo as he attempted to think of a response, and he resorted to his response to Aster's earlier question to buy himself time.

"Have no fear, Aster! I promise to keep everyone in the party safe from harm, so you can learn from me and Kajin."

Theo stopped. Shit, SHIT. His mind was drawing a blank... Dirk wouldn't stop, keep the conversation moving. Sound more relaxed, straighten your posture...

"B-but don't worry about not knowing much about the game. You two just gotta think about it like a regular MMO - only difference is it's a lot more immersive. Graphics are better than normal, that kind of stuff. Just focus less on the details, and it'll feel way more natural."

"But the armor issue... Well, just avoid drawing too much attention. I got a spell that draws aggro, so you just have to make sure to deal some damage, and stop for a bit when the enemy starts to get angry at you. Besides, you're a tough gal - You got 1000 HP! I doubt many monsters could 1-shot you on this floor, and I'll be able to draw aggro while you get healed up by Kajin. Hell, if you're worried, take him up on his offer to make you armor - he probably has a crafting skill in something."

Theo patted Kajin on the back, putting in enough force for it to be a little uncomfortable - Dirk's the kind of guy who's so strong, he doesn't know his own strength.

"And sorry Kajin, I don't have any idea how the actions work - My only action is a passive."

Theo opened his menu, selecting the actions section to display his single ability, Inspiring Presence. Theo actually chose that over Shield Raise solely for the name - Dirk was an inspiration, and that action was perfect for him. He closed the menu and continued speaking.

"I got a pretty good understanding of the skill system so far though. But enough of that - We should start doing something, grind a little while all the good spots are empty. I'd recommend searching for a quest before hand - we'll be able to use some of the Renn to buy armor for Aster or something."

✧ Talrae ✧ (LOOKING FOR CO-GM)

Will post today.

✧ Talrae ✧ (LOOKING FOR CO-GM)

Theodore Smith

Dirk Davidson

Interactions: @Achronum@Tybalt Capulet

---

This was it - the highlight of Theo's life. The wave gear was a piece of technology that outrivaled any other gaming system on the market, allowing the most immersive experience possible. It also was the only system capable of playing the most anticipated game of all time - Talrae. It was a technological masterpiece, easily worth the small fortune his parents spent on it. The company said it was impossible to tell the difference between the game world and reality, and even things like food were replicated with incredible accuracy. Hell, the people that made it were probably just torturing the customers at this point, only releasing 10,000 at launch! His dad said he nearly was mugged when he was purchasing this. But oh lord, Theo might have been fine with that since he now has his hands on this baby. Without wasting time, Theo set up the system, touching his body all over as it said in the instructions. After finishing this, he immediately called up the closest thing he had to a hang out - Joe's pizza. He had been a faithful customer for years, and he wanted the first thing he ate after the experience he was about to have.

"Hey Joe, I need the usual. Tell Vinny I'm leaving money on the counter and to just drop off the pizza, alright?"

"Whatever you say, big guy. He'll be over in about 30 minutes, you live a while away."

And with that, the call was over. Joe was like a second father-figure for Theo, and he was always ready to offer advice. Vinny, on the other hand, was arguably the best friend that he had. He had been delivering pizzas for the past 10 years, ever since he was 16, and the two were close. Of course, he started poking fun at Mr. Doctor ever since Theo got into college, but it was in good fun. Theodore smiled slightly. Quickly he grabbed the remote and, on his way to unlock the door, turned on the television and set it to the news channel. He wanted to let Vinny know it was okay to come in. He then rushed towards his bed, and gently lowered the helmet-like device on to his head. It was far heavier than he expected, but considering people were supposed to lay down while using it, weight probably didn't matter that much. He cracked his neck, before focusing, trying to allow the Wave Gear to sense his brain waves and activate. Remembering a portion of the instruction manual that talked about this, Theo opened his mouth and closed his eyes.

"Link Start!

Upon recognizing the phrase, the device immediately knocked him out, throwing Theo into a virtual world.

---

The character creation was swift, considering Theo was used to creating Dirk - Blond hair, a handsome and masculine face, extreme muscles, and a winning smile. The looks of a real hero. After finishing that, he turned towards classes - of course, marauder was tempting. Dirk was the kind of guy that fought with ridiculously oversized weapons. But, alas, DPS wasn't that important in these types of games - they didn't grab attention. Theo knew that Dirk was the center of attention, the hero. He chose the second most fitting role, a musclebound bastion that protected the weak while fighting for justice. A role that needed to be filled in every RPG. Selecting the token tank class, the paladin, Theo slowly hyped himself up. For once in his life, he would truly be great - or at least, he told himself that. He was finally going to be Dirk - not play as him, not pretend to be him, but embody him. After getting in character, he chose the most fitting skills and attributes, and logged into the world of Talrae.

---

The sounds of people and sunlight warming his now tanned flesh alerted Theo that he was now in the world. Opening his eyes revealed the festivities that surrounded him - players running around with children NPCs, merchants trying to sell their wares, and guards keeping an eye on the shadier individuals. Glancing down to his body, he saw the starting item that paladins received - a single shield, a buckler to be specific. It was slightly heavy, but looked sturdy and reliable compared to the simple cloth that he was clothed in. Theo sneered slightly while examining the garb - Dirk who never wear something so simple and boring.

Quickly, he made his way to the armor shop and, after seeing the price of plate armor, settled for leather armor. After all, he would just do some quests and buy the more attractive plate as soon as he gathered the cash. Theo opened the menu, equipping the leather as he mad e his way to the weapon shop. There, he bought a longsword, which he planned to use for awhile since he didn't need to deal damage. The prices were steep, but the thought of bartering never even crossed Theo's mind - usually, you can't barter with NPCs, so he didn't think it would work, even when considering how lifelike they acted. With most of his starting gold depleted, Theo was ready to immediately begin questing. He was about to say something in chat, before realizing their was no chat, and opened his mouth to yell -

He was cut off by a bright light enveloping him, causing him to appear back to the town square. Dozens, if not hundreds of lights were following, and everyone was bewildered. The sea of handsome and beautiful faces, the kind people always picked in character gen. Theo understood - no one wants to play as something ugly, or themselves. Eventually, the teleporting stops, and a dark, ominous voice begins to reverberate throughout the city. The voice was threatening, but Theo was able to keep a straight face thanks to his Acting Skill. The form of the final boss ripped itself from a hole in the sky, the being known as Malgoth. Personally, Theo thought his design was a little edgy, and always enjoyed to call him "Mall Goth". However, his presence was so intimidating, the thought of joking never even crossed his mind. The being welcomed the crowd to the world, before unveiling the horrible news.

---

Hundreds, if not thousands of players were freaking out, distressed, or otherwise in shock. Apparently, death here would result in their deaths in the real world. They were stuck here. Theo found this idea laughable.

There was no way in hell they were stuck here. The admin was trying to troll them, and he fabricated a couple news articles and stories to make the prank more realistic. After all, their was no way the news of the girls death would spread so quickly - she literally just died! She was probably an actor, and was hired to fake her death. And how the hell would they manage to sneak devices capable of emitting microwaves, powerful enough to kill people, into a commercially available product? And how would the servers be repaired if all the employees were supposedly "arrested"? No, the whole thing had to be a lie... It had to be. After all, there was no way Theo was that lucky - to finally escape his old life and become his idol. But the sinking feeling, the thought that it may be true, remained in Theo's head...

He continued to play as Dirk, not even checking the logout button. Everyone else had tried, some were still doing so. Dirk wouldn't waste time - he would keep everyone safe, calm them down, and tell them it was all probably some sick joke. But right now, Theo was in his old skin, and while it was impressive physically, it wasn't something he wanted to be plastered all over the internet as "The nerdy kid who seriously thought people were trapped in a video game". Instead, Theo continued to do what he was doing before hand - find a party. Hell, with so many people freaking out, the remaining were probably frantic to gather into groups and find protection. It would be easier. He spotted them in the distance - a black-haired girl in regular clothes, and a red head dude in cloth robes. Judging from appearance, cloth armor was most likely a mage given the staff at his side, and black hair was either a marauder or swordsman because of the katana. A big assumption, but Theo was willing to take the chance. Slowly, he made his way to the small team, at his paladin-pace. Upon making it there, he heard red head speaking to the girl.

“Sorry for the forwardness but I figured the whole trapped in a death match thing trumps manners in this situation. Kajin Najin, mage and healer at you service! And for the low low cost of making sure I don’t get cut too badly, I can be your pocket healer and patch us up! What do you say, party up?”

Jackpot. The name Kajin Najin screamed weaboo, but honestly, Theo didn't care - he liked anime, and also living. And to live, he needed to find a healer to latch onto. Fast. Using his Acting skill and speaking in that larger-than-life, Dirk voice, Theo addressed the pair.

"You know what's great at making sure people aren't cut up? Shields!"

Theo gently tapped his Buckler

"I, Dirk Davidson, would also love to party up with you two! I will do my best to make sure you don't die! ...So, please do the same for me."

Theo added that last part as more of a mumbled side comment, and before the others even agreed, he opened his menu and sent the two party invites.