Simba

A couple of players walked by him and looked at him, "Hey man, are you okay? You look a little exhausted. You should take this Teleporting Crystal, so you should be able to get back into town without having to worry about traveling far and getting lost. We don't need it, we grind all day for the Col and had some to spare, so you should be fine." The players took off running and Facade had an idea to head back inside the forest and locate another chest, but it was tricky, because he was not sure if he was going to be lucky enough to find a third chest. If he was able to locate another treasure chest, he might be able to sell the items he find and make more Col. He checked the path ahead of him and made sure there was no monsters around the area.

WC: 150

As he got tired of waiting around, Facade made a run for it out of the forest and into the «Grasslands». He quickly turned around and fell onto the ground to see if there were any signs of monsters going after him, but there was no monsters at all. He took a deep breath and sighed, as he slowly laid on the ground, smelling the fresh air. Although virtual, everything he smelled was normal and he could just lay in the grass all day, but there were players who would be able to kill him, if he were to pass out in the open like that. He was still feeling tired, but with the thought of being slain by a player was not pleasant, he had to stay awake and the only way to keep himself awake, was to focus on the task at hand. He began to focus on the area around him until he heard footsteps approaching him.

WC: 160

Facade slowly made his way back, but the exit was covered with monsters, as if they were guarding the exit. 'What if I just walk through these brushes and make my way out of this mess? I bet they did not think about that.' He slowly creeped into the brushes, not trying to make much noise and get their attention, but every step he took, a branch would snap, or a leaf would crack. He would take small steps, before trying to make a long strut out of the forest. A couple of monsters would look at his direction, but he would stop moving as soon as they did. It was as if their detection skill were enhanced when he tried to be sneaky. Slowly taking his step one by one, but the branches were snapping and the monsters got closer to her. He took a knee preparing to sprint, but stopped and waited to see if they left.

WC: 159

Facade took a deep breath and sighed. He checked the time and it has only been exactly an hour and thirty minutes, just like his dream, but this time he did not feel exhausted. He stretched out his arms and legs and followed the path to make it out of the forest. He checked to see if the 'logout' button was there, but it wasn't. He swiped away the menu and continued to watch out for any suspecting monsters that would attack him, if he were not paying attention and he was just laying alone in the forest, he could have been killed as well. He checked for the map to see if he was close to the exit, but it would take him quite a while before he could get back. He checked to see if there were any way he could take a shortcut to the exit, but there was no way he would beat the time, unless he ran, but he had no energy left.

WC: 168

Facade slowly began to lose hope, as he felt like he spent hours on the path, but there was no sign of the crossroad anywhere. He stood still and swiped down for a menu and his eyes widen. 'T-The log out button. It is right there! It's back! I can get back home now. There is no way I am going to have to deal with this.. I don't want to be stuck in this game anymore!' He pressed the button, but nothing happened. He continued to spam the button and all of a sudden he woke up from the same tree he was before and he stared up at the leaves above him. Everything was still the way it was, before he woke up. His eyes slowly adjusted to the area around him, as he tried to focus on the tree in front of him. He slowly got up and glanced around the trees, before feeling the need to stretch out his arms and legs.

WC: 166

The longer Facade walked through the forest, the more he continued to see the same thing over and over again. He quickly sprinted straight toward the path again and this time ran the opposite direction. 'If I can loop back around toward the cross road, I should be able to get back to where I was and make my way back to the Town of Beginnings. If not, I might be stuck here for a while. I can't be stuck here. I might die to a Frenzy Boar or a Dire Wolf.' He slowly made his way back onto the path and walked along it, but made sure to remember the surrounding areas. Facade soon became suspicious of how things were, but he had no idea what was going on. He took the blade of his sword and attempted to slash at the tree in front of him and nothing happened.

WC: 151

The more Facade continued on the path, the more things looked different. He tried to mark trees, as he ran through the path, but he realized that the scenery does not change, if he altered any of the texture. The texture would revert back to normal if any aesthetic harm were done in the process of combat, so Facade had to rely on memory, as he ran through the same path over and over again. He would hear players, but he would test the time and would constantly hear the same thing. He stood for a moment at the same spot and tried to go through the forest and toward the sound. The sound would loop, but it would play long enough for someone to not notice it, but it always had the same conversation and the same time the birds would chirp. He found it odd, and continued to make his way through the forest, attempting to figure things out.

WC: 161

Finally finding the last «Dragon Petal», Facade slowly made his way out of the forest, following the path back. His eyes shifting around the forest, keeping his guard up, as many monsters attacked him, when he finished picking up the «Dragon Petal». There were rustling in the back, but he chose to ignore it and continued on his path. There were the sound of players running around and he knew he was on the right track and he began sprinting along the path. 'If I keep going, I should be able to make it back to the Grassfields and I will be one step closer to the town. There is no need for me to stick around here for long!' Along the path, Facade opened up his menu with his index and middle finger, looking at his quest log, seeing that he had finally completed the first step in his quest. He no longer had to locate any more material and just had to turn it into the NPC.

WC: 169

Facade continued on the path until he saw a brush and he quickly sprinted towards the brush and rolled his sleeve up. His eyes glimmer, as he slowly stuck his hand into the brush and pulled out the «Dragon Rose». He heard a snap, as he pulled the «Dragon Rose» out from the brush and a smile grew on his face. He placed his thumb and index finger against the «Dragon Petal» and tugged on it, pulling it out from the core. The «Dragon Rose» burst into a thousand polygons, leaving the «Dragon Petal» behind. The brush soon followed after the «Dragon Rose». His quest log updates and he tossed the «Dragon Petal» into the air and a smile grew widely. There was no better joy he could find after seeing his quest log update. His eyes glimmer at the sight of watching the log slowly fade away and he turned toward the exit of the forest.

WC: 157

It seemed as if Facade had been walking around the forest for hours, but it has only been a few minutes. He had already put away his sword into his inventory, because the exhaustion is getting to him. 'There is no sign of these Dragon Roses anywhere.. It seems like I am the only one struggling with this quest. I am here to become an Alchemist, yet I am starting to lose my mind trying to finish the quest.' He continued to walk along the path, until he is met with a player who had a giant smile one his face. He pointed down the path and wanted to show Facade something, but had no words. He just kept pointing down the path and ran away. Facade was a bit creeped out, but there was no harm in checking it out. He turned to watch as the player sprinted down the path and he never turned back. Although he was creeped out by the player, there was no point for him to turn back either.

WC: 175

Facade slowly came to his senses and there was no sign of monsters roaming the forest at all. He leaned back and swiped down for the menu with his index and middle finger. The menu appeared and he glanced over at the time and it read one thirty. He took a deep breath and sighed, as he slowly got up from the ground and brushed the dirt off himself. 'I don't have time for this right now.. I just need to hurry up with this quest. I knocked out for an hour and a half.. I am exhausting myself right now..' He proceeded to walk along the path to find the brush, but there were no sign of them anywhere in the forest. Everything in the forest were odd looking, but it did not stop Facade from continuing down the path. The rustling in the bushes nearby caught his attention, but as soon as he turned, it was gone.

WC: 159

Facade proceeded to scout out the area around him to see if he is able to locate the brushes that grew the «Dragon Roses», but it seemed like there was no sign of the brushes anywhere. He took a deep breath and sighed, as he wandered around the forest as the morning had finally ended. He swiped down for the menu to check for the time and it is now twelve o' clock in the afternoon. He sighed, as he leaned against the tree trunk and slowly slid down on the back. 'I don't think I am going to be able to do anything for a while.. I am just going to take a few minutes and rest for a while. I don't feel like doing anything for now.. I just.. I just want to sleep for a while..' He took one glance around the area to make sure there is no monsters spawning near him, but his eyes became heavy and he soon passed out, leaning against the trunk of the tree.

WC: 173

Continuing the path, Facade soon to find himself in a part of the forest that he never saw before. He examined the trees and the rest of the greenery, but it seemed like it was a different part of the forest. He immediately went back to check at the map to see where he is and found himself to be near the monsters called, «Little Nepent». He took a few steps back and ran the opposite direction, as he had not fully recovered from his last fight. Facade got away from that section of the forest and leaned against the tree, trying to catch his breath. He had not engaged in combat with one of those monsters before, so he had no data on how to fight them. There was no time for him to just stand around, so took one deep breath and sighed and scouted the area, but stopped when he heard rustling nearby.

WC: 156

Facade followed the path toward the fields, but there was no sign of any brushes that grew «Dragon Roses». He ended up at a crossroads where the path split up, but he did not remember having to cross this path at all. He tapped his chin and took the rightmost path and ended up in a stranger location he was ever in before. He took a look around, but there was nothing that seemed familiar to him. He quickly pulled down for his menu, but his map did not show a way out of the forest. He also did not have a teleport crystal with him and he quickly glanced around the area ahead, but there was nothing and not even a brush that grew «Dragon Roses». A matter of fact, there was no sign of any bushes around the area. His eyes shifting from left to right, but there was no sign of any bushes. He walked down the path, but stopped when he heard something nearby.

WC: 168

Facade took a deep breath and sighed, initiating his Sword Art, «Snake Bite». He dashed towards the «Dire Wolf», as it attempted to lunge towards him. He shouted, as he quickly attacked the «Dire Wolf» with three brisk angled slashes, before sheathing his sword. The «Dire Wolf» blew up behind him, leaving a trail of polygons but this time there was no 'Bonus Item' window and he sighed. 'I went through all that trouble and there was no loot for me. I guess I already came up upon a lot of other loot before fighting this Dire Wolf. I guess no loot this time would not bother me that much. I should just focus on the quest at hand and find the final petal, so I can move on to the next quest.' He followed the path back towards the field, hoping to spot a brush on his way back.

WC: 150

The «Dire Wolf» attempted to lunge toward Facade once again, but he was able to avoid it this time. Facade attempted to retaliate against the «Dire Wolf», but as soon as he attempted to swing his sword at the «Dire Wolf», it evaded the attack by leaping out of the way. His eyes widen, shocked from the reaction of the «Dire Wolf». He leaped back towards safety, pulling his sword up. 'I did not expect the Dire Wolf to react that way. It seems like it is also learning to adapt to the way we fight. If I can surprise it with one more Sword Art, I should be able to kill in with Snake Bite. If I don't time it right, I might take another beating from it.' He took a defensive stance, as he circled the «Dire Wolf». His eyes shifted toward the nearby trunk and smiled, as his sword began to glow.

WC: 155

Facade let the luck of striking the «Dire Wolf» twice get to his head and without paying attention, the «Dire Wolf» took the opportunity to engage on him. Not being able to react on time, he was bit on the arm again. Facade began to punch against the «Dire Wolf» and it would let out a whine, but not let go. He swung his arm really hard against the trunk of the tree, slamming the back of the «Dire Wolf» against it. It was able to get off of his arm and he held onto his arm, as the sting of the damage lingered. Facade glared at the small «Dire Wolf», as he raised his sword up and took a defensive stance. 'If I stop distracting myself, I might be able to get through this without trying to play around with these monsters.' The «Dire Wolf» began to circle around Facade and he began to take the higher ground, so he would be able to avoid the attack if anything came at him.

WC: 173

The «Dire Wolf» attempted to sneak an attack against Facade, but he was able to evade the attack. Before he could activate his Sword Art, his sword began to glow, indicating his next attack he was about to land is going to be a critical. He began to activate the Sword Art, «Snake Bite» and the blade of his sword began to emit a heat that he only felt once or twice. He began to quickly attack the «Dire Wolf» with three swift angled slashes, dropping the health of the «Dire Wolf» all the way to twenty five percent. Facade quickly pulled back and rested his sword onto his shoulder, as he had a smile on his face. 'Alright, Sora. Do not get your hopes up. You still have to take out the rest of its health before going back to pulling plants out of the ground.' He glanced over at his health and the health of the «Dire Wolf», smiling as he could see the color of its health.

WC: 170

Facade attempted to advance toward the «Dire Wolf», but before he could land a strike, it took a bite onto his left arm. He struggled with pain, but was able to smack the «Dire Wolf» against the trunk of a nearby tree, causing it to whine in pain. He took a stance, activating his Sword Art, «Snake Bite». A skill he has constantly been spamming, as it is easy for him to recover energy and it took quite the damage on the «Dire Wolf» and other monsters. 'It seems like the Dire Wolf lost almost half of its health points already, if this keeps going in my favor, I should be able to end this quickly and go after the next Dragon Petal and make my way back to the town with no worries.' He took a defensive stance and circled the «Dire Wolf» to make sure it would not attack him.

WC: 152

As the polygon began to fade away, there stood a «Dire Wolf» growling at Facade, as he slowly backed away into a tree. He gripped the handle of his blade and quickly initiated his attack, but as he swung his blade against the «Dire Wolf», it ducked and lunged itself up toward him. He quickly dropped onto his belly and the «Dire Wolf» flew over him. He quickly got back up on his feet and glanced back at the «Dire Wolf». 'That was a close one, if I was up for another second, the Dire Wolf would have bit me. Probably took a chunk of my head with it. I need to be quicker and react a lot faster without having it take my health away.' Facade quickly turned back toward the «Dire Wolf» and smirked, as he pulled his blade up toward the «Dire Wolf». The «Dire Wolf» howled at him, but he already had his focus on the «Dire Wolf» and was ready to attack.

WC: 167

Facade materialized his sword and took the bottom side of his handle and smacked against the lock of the treasure chest. It slowly opened up, creating a generic loot tune, before a 'Bonus Item' window appeared before him. He is rewarded with a hundred and fifty Col, eight tier one material, a perfect unidentified armor, and two unidentified rare consumables. 'That makes four hundred and twenty Col, twenty three tier one materials, two perfect unidentified armor, and four unidentified rare consumables. I am going to need a ton of Col just to identify those items. I might just be poor after this quest.' He took a deep breath and sighed, before swiping away the window and the chest bursting into a thousand polygons. His eyes shift onto his Col and the materials he had collected, but this was just his first quest and he needed to make sure there is more to what he could do.
 

WC: 156

Facade proceeding to walk along the path of the forest, he wondered if it was possible for him to locate another treasure chest if he proceeded to walk further within the forest. 'I am really going to be off track, but as long as the treasure chest helps with improving my adventure in the front-lines, I don't think it is going to be much of a problem.' He continued along the path, watching for any sign of monsters gathering around the area. There were a few rustled brushes, but they never took an initiative to attack him, so he never bothered to check. Without scanning the floor, he stumbled over a thick object and fell over. Before he could be ready, it was another treasure chest in the path. A smile grew on his face as he slowly approached the treasure chest and placed his hand on the lock. 'I just need to smack the lock with the bottom side of my sword and I should be able to get this open.'
 

WC: 172

Facade felt his energy slowly restoring to his body and took a few swings at the air. He created a fist and felt all of his strength finally return to him. 'Okay.. I feel a lot better than before. A surge of strength has returned to me and I feel like I can take on the entire floor by myself.' Facade stretched out his arms and legs, before glancing around the field. There were no signs of any idled monsters, because of all the players running around fighting everything. 'Surprisingly there are a ton of players running around here, could it be that there are more players coming out of hiding. I do see players with equipment that I would not find here. They must be helping out with players venture up to the higher floors. Just like Hestia and that guild she was talking about.' He sighed and made his way into the forest to find one more petal.

WC: 160

Facade continued to make his way out of the forest and there was a ton of player running amok the field. There were many parties attacking the «Frenzy Boars» and were thinning out the population. 'Now this is great.. I do not have to worry about fighting any of those Frenzy Boars, but it also seems like there are players dealing with the same situation I am in. Either that or they are still doing the first quest.' He took a deep breath and sighed, as he made his way towards the next brush. There is one lone brush left and Facade sprinted toward the brush and slid beside the brush. He slowly stuck his hand into the brush and began picking at it until he felt the «Dragon Rose». Facade pulled the rose out and slowly placed his thumb and index against the petal and tug quickly. His quest log updated once again and the rose shattered into polygons and the brush blew up seconds after the rose.

WC: 169

Facade proceeded to attempt to fight the «Boar Pup», but as he swung his sword at the «Boar Pup», it evaded the attack. Surprising «Facade», it charged at him and ramming his against his chest. The knock back is not as bad as a «Frenzy Boar» and he was able to use his blade to sustain the knock back, but the damage still was dealt to him. His HUD rang, but it was not as bad as dropping pass fifty percent of his health. 'D-Damn it.. I guess I am still weaker than I thought I should be. I need to focus on trying to help the quest, not try to look like a hero.' He turns over to Mina, and gestured her to attack the «Boar Pup». His energy is hitting the red zone, but he could still try to initiate his sword art, if he had to. His eyes focused on the «Boar Pup» ahead of him, as it grunted at him, it was as if it was trying to taunt him. 'I don't know if I should be angry or just laugh at the fact that this tiny pig try to anger me.' He sighed and took a defensive stance, to keep himself from taking anymore damage.

@Mina