NIGHT

still absentminded, and still so loud. it definitely wasn't helping either herself or the party that they were in a colosseum, filled with a rowdy crowd that wouldn't shut up about cheering them on as fighters. and neither was it accommodating to hone in on her allies' words, trying to glean what little they had to say on co-operation when most liked to dedicate it to banter. night breathed, dishonest, squaring her shoulders once the trio had gotten their attempts in, and dove round the rhino with a sweeping crescent, sliding against dust as she skid it by. she watched the enemy bou

acanthus recounted on her memories -- and at her last comment, night opened her mouth... finding a dry "likewise" stuck partway through. before night could follow up on it, however, the alert from acanthus' map helped hide her momentary pause, and she chose to brush that question aside. she promised to focus, and her companion was doing her best, too. so they went silent, night behind the scout as the latter split the view. a black bear, adorable yet strangely inanimate sat alone, staring into blank space. while the would-be tamer was preparing herself to seal the deal, so too did the pla

shock to the china, indeed. night jumped, even as she seemed relaxed -- the wake up call she didn't need from being calm and collected, but she bore it all the same. rather, finding kinship with the cutlery around, she picked it up before they were shaken even more and started to set the table for their meal nearby. but while night had her eyes on the counter, suddenly yuki spawned a gigantic, thick slab of meat that seemed even bigger than the width of her own weapon -- "BEHOLD. A rare, unobtained ever before rare cooking material!!" did yuki declare. and thus came night's second scare,

"you're kidding," she hollered back, half-hearted. it wasn't so much that koga's exposure had disappointed her that much. rather, between lilith's artful skips despite its monstrous, quadrupedal form, so too was night sort of hoping there would've been some sort of familiarity in the titles they both experienced. but those simply weren't the genres she was exactly into. one leap while lilith was distracted with koga, the man keeping it actively focused on himself through some means -- with safety precautions, even. she struck the monster in the back, a cut down that bulging spine visible

oke

yea

she didn't forget to check this time. there were a great many items on display that vowed to grant immunity, it seemed. which was an odd choice, night considered, given the deference towards culinarian crafting items to bear the load from the enemies. and, admittedly, there were other choices on display that were for the better in most circumstances. so these, made for niche scenarios she presumed, might have been best suited for a last resort, surely. night rolled the vial in her hand. delicate, unblemished and lean, with something akin to liquid quicksilver within, its shapes

as homely a welcome as ever. night looked around at the mention of an's decluttering process, but couldn't notice a difference. what changed? to be fair, if every time she came back to the shop, some crates had been shifted over or other, the player would've chalked it up to the owner's preference of arrangement. maybe, if she hadn't lived there, there'd be no way for her to tell. so she waved off her disbelief to try and give an the benefit of doubt. and when she mentioned her intended outing that day, night worried about the girl's initial reaction, that stutter and concern mixed with t

it definitely was nostalgia. the appearance change back to her original form -- at least, the appearance night was most familiar with -- was shocking enough for the player to also be stilled at yuki's surprise. she only moved when her friend mentioned the food. "I haven't even started cooking yet!" "oh, no-- don't worry about it--" "Oh no, I need to get it started as soon as possible..." and where night didn't know how better to respond, she knew, at least, to enter the home before other players came looking to see who was causing a ruckus. it was almost as thoug

night pulled up her map at acanthus' mention of it. it likely helped -- if she'd kept walking, fixated on her own thoughts, it wouldn't have done either of them any good. but having been familiar with the city's outskirts, she wasn't exactly sure which part of the woods her companion had meant. still, she made her guess, gesturing to acanthus with a brief stop in their trek. "the glade over there? or the enclave next to it?" once their direction was settled, night picked up the pace on their walk. she swallowed, with consideration for how they were about to fare with the incoming rain. ny

never mind what night was up to earlier. slaying a monster or cooking/eating one up -- it doesn't matter. what did matter more was the fact that yuki even did message her after such a long time, and it was about her climbing a mountain. and then fighting... whatever that thing was. what the hell was that thing?! look. night knew yuki was going to be safe no matter what. she didn't know a great many tanks in the game, but all of them were hardy in their own way. for yuki, beyond her personality, there was also her armor, vibe checked against shadow and her shield lived to tell the tale. so

tolbana was always known for the settlement where the front had gathered before conquering the first floor's labyrinth. yet not as much was spoken about the local attraction of having multiple water fountains, even so far as to have a dock present for a small lake nearby. and, for some unknown reason, bistro was sending her out there bistro: to look at the docks. night: why the docks night: isn't f22 or 24 better bistro: tolbana's a little out of the way, don't you think? night: yes bistro: :) bistro: let me know about your findings. bistro: i heard there's a go

“Night, you have nothing to be sorry about. If anything, you warned me that she can be a little… demanding.“ she glanced over her shoulder, the caravan small in the distance. "i'm not sure i would call that 'a little'." “I’m unsure how other people fared with her,“ acanthus continued, “but the quest seems programmed to allow players to move forward, regardless of how the conversation goes. So really, there was never any trouble.” "is that how it works...?" night hummed, reflecting. maybe acanthus did have a point in how the quests operated. but, evidently, if the players th

ye oke

somehow, the game simply turned it up to eleven whilst night hadn't been looking, it seemed -- because while she knew cardinal had a revival era, and the personalities of some individuals had been tuned, this quest had understandably escaped her notice... and was somehow worse than before. night, stunned, had found herself saying nothing, but watched as acanthus dealt with the new gypsy. which meant watching the new player, still foreign to her, stand her ground against all odds of the system telling her, "no." “Next week?! It took me weeks to find where you would be. Nobody told me

frankly, night was more wrong than right at her commentary to koga from prior -- as soon as lilith picked herself back off the ground through some elaborate yet unexplained sorcery from cardinal's part, so too did she flub a strike as she stumbled backwards, trying to avoid its notice. she was under the presumption that they were having a conversation... and it simply never happened. "god damn," she muttered, watching koga dodge out of the way of lilith's retaliation, no matter how inaccurate the strike from the latter may have been. night shook herself awake, just as the two stacks of li

night fought back the urge to smile, but set the side of her cheek to the back of her knuckles as she thought anyway, eyes closed. "i'm sure i could hallucinate a better fiction on the way to dagan," she decided, looking down the singular shelf-formed corridor the players had aligned themselves up within. and she kept quiet, unsuspecting, when she noticed a shadow approaching them from the far end. sure, she'd peered past star to look as well for a glance. at his commentary, she'd barely had time to raise a finger to gesture to -- "Hello, and welcome to the Grand Library of Ronbaru."

night nodded, listening to acanthus. she wasn't all-too-familiar with how other players went about their searches for their companions. and, if they truly didn't have a say in the matter, perhaps night was just as lucky that nyanko found her back then. “In the end, it doesn’t matter. Whatever crosses my path, I’ll make sure it has a good home.” it was a sentiment she could respect, so she hummed an agreement in response. “Thanks again for coming along. I feel pretty safe on the first floor, but it will be nice to have some guidance regardless. Even with a few quests under my bel

NIGHT: ??? NIGHT: why's dragon hunting considered urgent her messages did not warrant a reply. night had leaned forward, on the edge of her seat as she rummaged through her inventory for the proper supplies. the twenty-fifth, last she checked, was particularly greedy in terms of what it beckoned from the player base -- either they went in with the right offerings, or they became one themselves. once she'd decided her stock adequate enough for the raid, she moved forward, towards the teleporter from her home, and dissipated with the light that consumed her. in due time, she wou

at the sudden strike, a thought passed her: it would be easier if she had her own blade back. what was it called, again? doombringer? when the oath's name echoed in her mind, she drew it forward, feeling its weight shift in her hands as she brought it ahead of her. night breathed, unwilling, watching the rhino stumble and struggle to get up. there was the vivaciousness of the crowd, too -- one that wasn't that wasn't there before, a reminder to keep her head in the game. she did so, because her seniors wouldn't be proud of her otherwise. for her team, for their championship, she rush

approved.

sip sip sip sip okay

SHAY | Approved. Total EXP: 47,600 Total SP: 160 Current Level: 33 Paragon Level: 1 Notes: n/a.

she'd stayed quiet during their walk. there wasn't a need to chat on an errand, and she'd rather be taking notes on the targets she'd fought than to delve deep into someone's psyche; she wasn't a therapist, she couldn't fix them. on the twenty-fourth, lamenting the loss of the walkable bridges, night too decided she couldn't fix the terrain either. and, to be fair, the floor couldn't fix her own issues all the same. "We’re just 4 adventurers who wants to challenge Piasuhon,” said mac. the colosseum was a local landmark she'd walked past a couple of times, not really examining it

about the zero? "nothing so much like the threat of floor bosses, i figure," night responded in turn. the first hand experience wasn't exactly as though it made her familiar with the average occupant there. a good comparison would've been shadowing a host family... and that's likely because they'd got lucky on visiting. she waved her chopsticks as she spoke. "we go into our raids mechanically blind, don't we? cardinal usually has new tricks up its sleeve for one reason or another. but, say you've been working through the same content for a while... if you keep encountering similar enemies