Oscar

Oscar hated to admit it, but The Other was right. Jason was his first failure. The first of many, he were being honest. The man had been trapped in the game, living his life in peace on Floor 2. His wife back in the real world was almost due to deliver their newborn daughter. In a rare opportunity to blow off some steam, Jason had decided to join the Launch of the game. Only, he was trapped within it. It was already bad enough that he had missed his daughter’s birth. Missed hearing her first cries. Missed being there for his wife at that perfect, beautiful moment. He had given Oscar his hospit

“Do you really think you can save them?” The Other posed the same question. This time, Oscar wasn’t taken aback by the suddenness of it all. He had an answer. Of course he did.. He didn’t come this far and struggle this much not to be able to answer something so simple. “Of course I do,” Oscar replied with a smile. “Why the fuck would I waste my time if I didn’t? You’re Me. You know how I get.” The Other was silent for a moment. His eyes narrowed at Oscar’s response. “What about Jason, then? You didn’t save him.” Oscar’s face twitched. A flash of emotion danced across

“Oh shit,” Oscar said with a laugh. “I’m totally seeing things. Guess I couldn’t hold out forever.” The disparity was jarring. One version of Oscar broken down by the stresses of his ordeal, the other smiling in amusement at the scene unfolding before him. He knew which was the real him. He knew what the other Oscar represented. All of his repressed feelings of inadequacy. His self-doubt and worries. An amalgamation of issues long stuffed down deep, payment deferred to a later date. That date had arrived, it seemed. Oscar was not immortal, neither was he invulnerable. He was self-aware en

It was nice to be able to grind mobs once again. The first group had fallen easily and now he was firmly locked in combat with the second. He could turn his mind off at times like this. Almost act on autopilot, cleaving mobs with wild abandon. At some point, he completely dissociated. His mind left his body, leaving it to carve through the forest as his thoughts wandered. And then he heard it, a voice from behind. “Do you really think you can save them?” Oscar wheeled around. When he did, he found that the forest was gone. He found himself standing upon an endless expanse of shadows.

It was a funny feeling to take his armor off. He’d been a steadfast wall for quite some time. He felt almost naked seeing his mitigation drop to the low double digits. If there was a time when such a thing would make him feel nervous, he couldn’t remember it. He was sure it had happened, but he couldn’t place exactly when he’d made that shift. Oscar wouldn’t say that he didn’t value his life. In fact, it was quite the opposite. But he valued his goals more. They were worth the risk. His task was worth the risk. They were responsibilities he foisted upon himself - no one had asked him to do it.

And if he was going to be introspective, he was going to get a grind done while he was at it. Having wandered through the forest for a while, Oscar stopped and opened his menu. Looking out over his items, his eyes fell upon an old piece of gear. Memories began to flood back. The formative period, when Oscar had no idea what the Hell he was doing. His finger hovered over the entry, hesitating. Remembering the times before it all went to shit. A smile rose to his face as he tapped the entry, donning the <<Gloves of Caerus>> for the first time in recent memory. His inventory was a mes

Sewallus kept the Monkey busy, allowing Oscar to wheel around and deal the final blow. As the standard fanfare played and Sewallus began to congratulate and thank the man, Oscar merely delivered another slap to the NPC’s cheek. It was astonishing how easily it was done. How little risk one needed to undertake now. He had to wonder that had the Quest played out then as it did now, whether it would have affected his current resolve at all. There was a certain thrill in the risk. It brought focus, unfettered restraint. He had become accustomed to do-or-die moments at a very low level and a very e

And so it began. As they approached the Monkey King’s lair, Sewallus twisted out of Oscar’s grip. His scripting set him into combat mode. Steel was bared and the man surged on ahead. Oscar was keen to let him do it, instead letting out a heavy sigh and drawing his weapon. He walked slowly, watching as Sewallus quickly put distance between them. And then he saw it. The Monkey King. A hulking brute of black fur and thick, sinewy muscle. There was a time when Oscar feared such a thing. A time when one blow from those powerful arms would have left him reeling, unable to take another hit. Those day

Oscar’s prior experience with the quest made Sewallus’ attempts at automated exposition a bit of a moot point. He knew exactly where to find the boss, knew exactly what the boss could do. And if not for the fact that the NPC was instrumental in unlocking a new Sword Art, Oscar would have been perfectly content to leave him behind. This was not a Quest Oscar took seriously. But, then again, there was nothing about the game other than the ultimate consequence that Oscar took seriously. It was all distraction. Fluff. Meaningless drivel meant to obfuscate the fact that everyone was well and truly

It was difficult not to feel nostalgic as he walked through Florenthia. So much had changed, but so much had also remained the same. The songbirds fluttering through the canopy, their chirps filling the air with a delightful melody. The sounds of the wind rustling through the leaves, the feeling of the wood beneath his boots. Oscar had to admit, when he really took a notion to stop and smell the roses, Aincrad was a beautiful place. Even if that beauty was marred by the fact that so many people were trapped in their own personal Hell. Walking smoothly, hands in his pockets, Oscar encountered S

The Monkey King. As Oscar recalled, it was the first Quest that he had really, truly challenged himself with. The first boss that he’d tackled solo. The first true risk he took within the game. There had been many of those since. It had been necessary to reach the point he was at now. Powerful, useful. A Player worth a damn focused on getting everyone home and protecting them from the monsters on the fringes while they were here. So he found himself amused that things had all come full-circle. Here he was, battle-worn but no less motivated, undertaking the very first challenge he ever gave him

Oscar had gotten distracted and hadn't realized that NIGHT had finished his commission in short order. Finally, though, he was cleaning out his inbox and noticed the message and made a beeline straight for The Evening Star to pick up his new toy. As he plucked the trinket off the counter, he wanted to stop and ask if NIGHT had enjoyed her meal. But after discovering that she was nowhere to be found, he decided it best to move on. He was still on the outs with the Tarot as things stood. And while NIGHT hadn't outright voiced her support to one side of the schism or the other, he thought it best

Oscar didn't want to ruin the mood. Clearly Elora was in her heroine arc and Freyd was working through something. But the boss was so tantalizingly close to death. Health bar firmly in the red, barely a sliver left. Oscar almost started salivating. It was so rare to come across an enemy so firmly within the sweet spot that Oscar liked to call "Bonkin' Range." The warrior surged forward. There were war cries and actual cries. Oscar raised his weapon and brought it down cleanly upon the crown of the boss's head. His blade cut cleanly and then stopped as it encountered resistance. For a mome

Oscar didn't really have any idea on what to do next. The System had made him quite lazy. In the past, there was an objective and an arrow and all he needed to do was follow them to wherever it was he needed to be. Things were different now... somehow. But he was nothing if not prepared. It was rare that he put his Searching skill to use unless he was searching spider pockets for incredible dosh. Without a word to the party, Oscar headed off in the direction the kid had run. It grew colder the further away from the town he got. Which was weird, because the sun didn't work like that. Event

It caught him off guard when the woman whirled around. Oscar had been altogether too used to having to crane his neck down at an awkward angle in order to meet someone’s eyeline. It was interesting to meet another freak of nature. And as she glared up at him, Oscar merely cocked an eyebrow. The silent exchange barely lasted a moment before she turned her efforts back towards bullying the poor, impotent man. It was quite endearing, but it put him off his game. Too many bleeding hearts and all. Together, the trio left the chaos of the bar. Oscar didn’t make an effort to join them on the ben

Gungnir's Shard - Crafter's Respite used

Oh it had been a while. Oscar was always gobsmacked to discover the changes he missed between Raids. It seemed as if every time he blinked, there was something new to be discovered with his friends and associates. NIGHT was perhaps the epitome of this phenomenon. He'd watched - albeit tangentially - her grow from a newbie in Tarot to the exceptional Player - and Crafter - she'd become. And it was for the latter that he darkened her doorstep. He knew of no better (or other, if he were being honest) Artisans and her work had proven to be indispensable to him in the past. So there was simply no o

"Didn't take long for them to spring one on us. Here I thought the festival might last a day before something significant turned up. Guess I should have known better..." Oscar merely shrugged. "You know how it is. Something weird happens, Players show up, and then Cardinal sends it," he said. The game was rife with distractions. Perhaps an effort by the System to keep the Players from completely coming undone once the realization set in. Oscar had fallen victim to that too, once or twice. In the dark of the night with nothing to occupy oneself but their thoughts. It hadn't happened in a w

It was that time again. A Labyrinth was cleared and the way to the next Floor Boss lay open. It was time for Oscar to take a break from his usual extracurriculars and get back to work. The Frontlines seemed more focused since he'd last seen them. More organized. Farming groups had appeared and old associates reached out to one another, searching high and low for aid in the endeavor. Perhaps Oscar had judged them too harshly after that debacle with Gabrandr. Regardless, he was all too happy to assist where he was able. He kept to himself in between Raids, but even he was aware of the sudden tan

8-1 Crafts Gungnir's Shard - Crafter's Respite used

Rowdy bars were not Oscar’s usual climate, but he went where the card games were. On the higher floors, the players were better. But the struggle was still the same. Losing a few thousand Col on a game of Hold ‘Em was a bit of charity he could get behind. Problem was, he was staring down pocket Aces with the Ace of Hearts on the river. His constant losses up til this point had made the Players at the table bolder, throwing in on ballsy bets to take more of his money. His hand rested on his cards, occasionally lifting the corners to double check. He looked nervous and unlike the other times he