Shye

Shye shrank a bit when the man began to pick her apart. It was true that she hadn't gotten much equipment yet. However, so far she had only been taking quests that were realted to gathering, or quests where she did nothing but watch others kill things for her. 

"S-Sorry...I just wanted to see what the higher floors were like...Maybe I should just go back to Floor 1 and work on the easier quests there." The girl looked a little defeated at Shield's rather correct assumption. Was she really going to be strong enough to survive in a game like this? "I'm still trying to learn about video games, and I thought it would be alright if I did some sight seeing was all. You're right though, I shouldn't be going this high up in the floors with someone to help me. I can't do any damage or take any for that matter...I'm only useful to others with my healing abilities. which are terrible right now...."

@Shield

Shye took a moment to breathe and collect herself. It was difficult to understand a life or death situation without any kind of context to how that situation even functions. It was really enough for to understand one thing though, if her HP bar hit zero, she would be gone. That wasn't going to happen with her doing something about it.

"I was pretty traumatize on my first month here. I think I cried without end for days. I'm here because of an unfortunate prank, but I've matured in the past two years enough to make up my mind. I'd rather learn how to help than be a coward for the rest of my life." Coming out of the cage was always so hard for her in real life, but most people in this game were too nice. 

"You seemed like you were in a hurry earlier. What were yo up to?"

@Astralin

The girl slowly stood up from the sand and dusted off her butt before she said anything back. Oh, he wasn't an NPC. Usually they would have walked off by now, but literally every player she had met up to this point was nice enough to make sure that she was alright before walking off. The people of Aincrad were nicer than she presumed. She always thought gamers were sleazy mean people like her brother but Sword Art Online players were all proving to be really nice.

"H-Hi Shield, I'm not in an hurry or anything... just didn't pay attention to where I was going was all." She gave him a shy smile and reached her hand out for a handshake. "My name is Chels-I mean Shye...Ugh my name is Chelsea. I still can't get into the habit of using the username. I'm still not used to it is all..."

@Shield

Chelsea had visited the last few floors going up from the Floor 1 to Floor 10 where she was going to stop. She didn't want to get too high up just yet, still being a pretty low level. A floor that was pretty much filled with nothing but sand. Yay. Floor four was already freezing as [censored] and now she had to endure hot winds and coarse sand? She was starting to miss Japan and Indiana because of these floors.

She wanted to just move on to the next floor because this floor was kind of hot and she could feel stand starting to get in her shoes, but it was best she get familiar with the game as much as she could. With luck she could make a round around the safe zone and just move on to the next. 

Walking through the city, she kept to herself and made note of any potential landmarks. Whilst walking, she was so indulged in her own thought that she didn't even see the tower of a man in front of her. The heavily clad man had his back turned, so she plowed right into his back and landed ass-first in the sand. "Ugh...Again... How do I keep running into people like this?" She asked herself while soothing her back end and adjusting her skirt so no one saw anything they didn't need to.

@Shield

Shye followed behind her leader, making sure that she stuck close in case anything thought of ambushing them. She didn't want to be caught of guard and it be the end of her journey so soon. The thought of actually being on the front lines did frighten her to no end. If she was a lot stronger maybe she wouldn't be as scared, but Mari was right. She needed to hone herself as a player before she could think that big. Focus on getting through the game as a newbie and learn the most that she can so she can survive.

"You said I should find some people to help me learn things about the game. Could I ask you to do that for me?" She was still quiet even after that bold display. "I have bought the skill but as far as I could find, there is no tutorial on how to activate it. Do you know how to do that? I don't want to screw it up at a crucial moment when someone could need it desperately or they'll die..."

@Mari

Chelsea was already starting to like this person. They seemed just as timid as her, like many other people that she had met. It was easy for two timid people to get along if you could just get them to talk with each other it seemed. She had told Shye that her username was cute. Though, she couldn't remember why she had chosen Shye as a username, it did suit her rather well.

"O-Oh thank you. Astralin is quite the elegant name as well." Her expression changed pretty quickly when she seemed to try and make a comment about being a gamer before hand. Again she would have to tell someone that she had no idea what she was doing or how to play the game 100% properly. "O-Oh, right it is pretty life like... Though I don't have much to compare it to besides the real world. I've never played video games, until now." No matter how many times she explained that, she knew the person that she said it to would have a reaction like she was crazy.

@Astralin

Chelsea took a moment to get used to the feeling of the gloves and looked around for any materials. Still she was coming up dry. She was starting to think she was just really bad at this.

"M-Me? Well, I'm from The States, America. However, my parents are both fluent in Japanese and they both wanted to move to Japan. I'm not sure their entire reasoning to do so, but I currently live in Japan. So that's why my Japanese sucks so much. My friend, Yua, has tried to teach my some Japanese, but I was picking it up pretty badly before I got sucked in here. My accent is awful, people kind of find it funny. Yua usually says they're not laughing at me, but it kind of feels like it. So, if you were wondering where my unconscious body is, it's in Japan in a small town kind of close to Kyoto." For a shy girl, Chelsea could really talk up a storm.

0/5 materials found

The girl backed off as soon as she realized how close she was standing the Nines. Her face flushed as red as her own hair with embarrassment. That was when he asked her a simple question. This is how you get to know people Chelsea, don't be a dummy!

"I'm kind of just the average girl I guess. I like clothes and makeup and all that stuff a lot of others just don't take the time to think about... maybe. I don't know. I also play the guitar... A little bit. I learned how to play an acoustic when I turned 10 and transferred that skill into an electric guitar... I prefer pop rock for music and I hang out with that friend of mine that I mentioned earlier, Yua." She took a moment to pick up her last material off to the side and her quest updated on her head. She was ready to go back to Zachriah... but she wasn't going to leave the boy alone by himself. "What about you Yuki?"

She seemed reassured when he mentioned that he would fend anything off if it was necessary. If that would be the case, she would help him with her healing.

All Materials Collected!

Chelsea was doing her best to keep herself from choking up and going silent. This game was going to help her with her inability to make friends... uh, she hoped. She was so deathly outside of the game that she couldn't make any friends other than Kibuya-san. If she could work on herself here, she could return to her friend as a better person.

She tuned back in when the boy decided that they should move further away from the safe zone. The worry could be seen on face. She knew that she would have to leave through the safe zones further at some point, but its still really unnerved her to get far from a safe area when she doesn't know how to play the game. "O-Okay. If anything happens, I have the healing skills." Slowly, unconsciously moving closer to the boy as they headed further out. She found another herb on the trail, quickly picking it up and returning to Nines as quickly as possible.

@Nines

Success: 4/5 Materials

Shye was just walking out of the Evening Star, trying on her new set of headphones and getting the fastener on her belt clipped to her makeup pack. It was a bit heavy on her waist but it wouldn't take long to get used to. She rounded the corner back to the hotel she was going to be staying at just to collide with another person. She fell onto her back end and quickly adjusted her skirt so no one could see her delicates.

"This happens way to often for my liking..." She mumbled to herself while the other person apologized. Shye just smiled and stood to her feet. "Ah, I'm fine, don't worry. Are you alright? I have a habit of running over people like that on accident. I really need to pay more attention..." She held out her hand, seeing as how this person wasn't an NPC. "Ch- I mean Shye. Nice to meet you."

@Astralin

Shye walked into the player shop. She had never needed to use one of these before, mostly using NPC shops, but now that she was actually a 'player' in the game she needed usable equipment. The stuff that she had ordered would help her immensely in the coming battles, though she wouldn't be doing most of the damage herself.

She walked up to the counter and met with the Artisan who made her items. The cute headphones like she had in the real world, obviously they wouldn't work here, and a box containing all her make up supplies. She was satisfied with the makes of them. "Thank you! Here's what I owe you."

With that the girl paid her due and left the shop.

Chelsea giggled a little. Did he have a girl friend outside the game that called him by a common girl's name just to tease him? That's kind of cute honestly. She walked next to him and smiled.

"That's cute to be honest. My best friend, Yua, she says that my name is really difficult to say because of her accent so just decided to call me 'Hana-chan' to make it easier for herself. It means flower, I think, but there's also a body part that is hana? I can't remember. My Japanese is so bad even though I live in Japan, it's kind of embarrassing."

She listened to the explanation that he had given her of RNG. It was just a system of luck based on numbers? "So, there's a certain amount of odds that a plant or flower - some usable material - could spawn right next to me?" And almost on queue, a herb spawned to her left in the ground. She picked it as it popped into existence. "And all that was my luck."

@Nines

Success: 3/5 Materials

Chelsea took a second to look for anything else around the tree while she was nearby, but nothing turned up so she ran back over to Nines before they got split up or something. He told her his name was Yuki, but she was sure that Yuki was a girl's name right? It meant... Snow in Japanese, or cold? Not sure. Kibuya-san hadn't taught her enough to know for sure, yet. She wondered how Yua was doing before she remembered the boy in front of her waiting for her response.

"No offense, but isn't Yuki a girl's name? Or, do you just like to be called Snow? Or cold, whatever it meant. My Japanese is sub-par at best. Kibuya-san laughs at my accent all the time." She followed behind him as he progressed. "Chelsea, please. It's easier to answer to for me. Anyway, Yuki, what was this RNG you were talking about? I'm not sure I understand what it really is."

Fail: 2/5 materials

Shye pushed the 'Accept' button on the window that popped up in front of her when Alisea initiated the trade. It showed a lot of different things. Boxes were marked with text that said 'Place Item here' and her inventory was set up on the side. The other girl was quick to move the item into the trade and hit accept. Shye followed suit. How over complex. In the real world, all you needed to do was take the item from you pocket and hand it to the person. This was probably a good way to keep theft low though, hunh?

With them in her inventory, Chelsea navigated her menu with the help of Jinx and set them up into her active slots. The item appeared on her hand without even needing to put it on. Interesting.

"Thank you. I'll make sure you get them back, don't worry!" Items that boosted your luck? She would have to get ahold of some for herself so she wouldn't have to borrow them again.

She took a moment to look with the boy, not really finding much just yet. They both needed to find the necessary materials to complete the quest, not just five as a group. That kind of sucked, but made sense, somewhat. That acronym came up again: RNG. Would she look like a total idiot if she asked what it meant? Probably, but she was curious. He seemed to know what he was doing, at least.

"Excuse me... oh, I never asked you your name. How rude of me! My name is Chelsea- or, I guess Shye. That's what my username is. That higher level player told me I should use that as a name, but it's kind of weird in my opinion. What's your name?" She would ask him about the RNG thing in a minute. She needed to know his name first, of course! After awhile, she noticed another one of the plants just off to the side near a tree. She walked over and picked it up, placing it into a sack for safe keeping.

Success: 2/5 Materials

Shye followed at arms reach behind the boy. She didn't want to feel like she was getting too close to him, but she wanted to be sure that she was in range to heal him. Even if it was safer out here than in outer places, you could never be to careful. He found his first herb rather quickly, taking it up and commenting about something called RNG, whatever that was. The booklet she had taken mentioned the term a few times but she still wasn't entirely sure what it meant.

"Oh, you found one pretty quick. I remember doing that quest where I had to find materials and someone had to give me a luck boosting item just to find them. It was kind of embarrassing." Another on of the plants like he had found caught her eye a few feet away. She walked over and picked it up. "Looks like I didn't need it this time, hunh?" She laughed a little as she spoke.

Success: 1/5 Materials

Shye did her best to return his smile. She could feel that they were both pretty timid people and it would probably take a moment for them to make any conversation that wasn't absolutely necessary. This was only her third time leaving the safe zone, so while she did had done so, she had never done so alone. Now wasn't really the time for her to start anyway.

"Well, we shouldn't have to get to far from the town, so if we do get in trouble, we could always run back!" She tried to ease the stress the boy was feeling. Looking him in the eye was too much like looking a mirror to her. She was going to try her best to help him. "If any mobs try to hurt us, I'll keep our health bars high with my healing abilities, okay?" And with that, the two of them stepped through the safe zone barrier to work on their quest together.

@Nines

Shye had left Zachariah's shop just as someone else was heading in. It was another player. The quest she was taking on, 'The First Lessons', was a beginner's only quest. Only someone around levels 1-15 would take it one because if you were higher, it wouldn't yield much benefit to do it otherwise. She wondered if joining him on the quest would be a good option since she was doing the same one. After all, she did promise to Alisea and Mari that should work hard to use her healing ability to help anyone she could get stronger. She waited outside for the boy to come back outside.

When he emerged from the house of the NPC, she hesitantly poked him on the shoulder and her shy voice barely broke the bustle of the Town of Beginnings.

"E-Excuse me? I couldn't help but notice you were taking on Zachariah's quest as well... W-Would you care if I joined you? I haven't left the safe zones more than a few times, so I'm pretty nervous to venture out on my own.." Her face was flushed from nervousness, as she spoke, but she still got words out. Good job Chelsea, it's the first step, right?

@Nines

Chelsea gave the other girl a warm smile. She was sure that she had done enough to help others in the past, and look now, she was helping her. That was absolutely worth commending.

"You know, Alisea, you're a much more courageous person than I could hope to be." She patted the other girl's shoulder and continued to smile. "I only just got enough courage to leave the stupid city. You've been helping people survive, including me right now. You should be proud of that and I should learn from your example. I'll do my best to level up and help whoever I can reach high enough levels to help us all get out of here as quickly as possible. My inexperience can't be chalked up as a pure reason to be a coward, right?"

She looked around for these materials one more time. Still she wasn't quite sure what she was looking for. "Sorry, but what are these things we're looking for? Materials right? What do they look like?"

fail

Shye thought on that for a minute. She could easily just return to town, but what if her help would save people while they tried to get her out of here? She took a moment to calm herself with a few breathing technique and looked Mari directly in the eyes.

"I don't know how to play these games, but if stick with something simple like healing, I could help tons of people make it to what you guys are calling 'The front lines' I think, and they could help us all escape this nightmare more quickly, right? I know this puts me in the line of fire, and that it's dangerous for me to do this, but I don't want to sit around and be useless when someone could use skills that I have invested in." Shye breathed a bit off beat, but Mari was right. She needed to learn how to survive and not be the wimp that she was.

"I'll stand back and watch then. I know you would probably be fine without my help, but if you get hurt, don't hesitate to call me for healing!" Her tone changed slightly, she threw Mari a slight grin and stood back, letting her do her work.

@Mari

Chelsea followed closely next to Alisea. She didn't want to get caught out by an monsters and attacked without her partner getting in between them. From the looks of it, nothing would bug them as long as they kept their distance. The smile was returned to the pink-haired tank and took a moment to look for the materials that she needed to make the potion for the quest. Unfortunately nothing turned up at this moment.

"En-Enhancement? Man I feel like a big dummy when it comes to this stuff. It makes me want to go back to the Town and just let more experienced players handle the game..." She said timidly, looking down at her feet with am upset frown. "I'm not really sure I should be doing this, but it has been two years now and I have no idea what to do anymore. Sitting around waiting for the others to complete the game feels... cowardly."

fail

Shye shrank a bit as Mari scolded her for trying to use a set of needles as a weapon, and to be fair, it was completely stupid. She didn't have any idea what she was doing, which was why she was sticking with healing. It was simple: She uses abilities to make sure others don't die.

"I-I'm sorry... I don't even want to fight like that..." Her voice got quiet and nervous. "The reason I'm here is because I decided to calibrate the helmet thingie for my brother. He was the one who meant to play it. He know's that I get scared easily so it was a bit of a prank. I couldn't log out of the game after he switched it on."

It felt so stupid to explain her predicament, but it was true. She had never touched a video game until now. Shye was probably making her name too true at this point, being tense and timid the closer they got to the bosses area.

@Mari

Shye walked next to Mari as they spoke. She seemed less than enthused when Mari mentioned that she would be swooned over for her skills. She had gotten First Aid when the game first started because she though it was required to buy something. First Aid seemed like it would be useful, then she found out she couldn't use it on herself.

"I-I will be popular? I don't know about that. I've never touched a video game in my life so I don't even know what should be happening when we do this quest. I assume I'll just stay back and heal you if you need it?" She flipped through her little booklet again to see if there was anything on that in there. She reached into a pocket in her skirt and pulled out a set of needles that she had hidden away.  I don't really have a weapon either... but these could work like a dagger... I guess?"

She didn't seem very sure of herself, but she still wanted to do what she could to learn how to survive and get out of this hell.

@Mari

Chelsea led the way out into the fields of Floor 1. Mobs ran around everywhere, free as animals in the forest of the real world. This floor seemed like a rather serene place, but the red head had never ventured out of the safe zone until now. She had no visible weapon, at least that's what it seemed like to Jinx, so she stuck close to her tank partner. Needless to say the other girl would protect her if she stayed near.

"If something does attack us and you take damage. I can heal you, I think. I have a skill for it, but I've never used it before." The girl looked around for these material things while they talked. She didn't really know what they looked like, but they couldn't be that hard to find, right?

There was nothing in this particular area. She was sure that if they saw something that she was supposed to pick up Jinx would have said something to her.

The red-head, the lower leveled one, offered her a smile while they shook hands. She didn't want to draw attention to Mari, but she couldn't help but look up at the orange crystal that floated above her head. The girl on the forum had mentioned not to judge anyone off that. Orange cursors meant someone had committed a crime, and Chelsea had remember the Monument that sat in the center of town. Mari was a name that appeared on there several times, which meant this girl had killed more than one real person here in the game. The thought shook her to the core, but then she realized she was spacing out and she needed to answer Mari's question.

"I have quested with a pink-haired girl. She was a 'tank' player as you guys call them. She pulled out a small booklet, one that players can get from the information brokers in the town of beginnings. "Their jobs are to control the battlefield so that damage players can defeat things. And then there are players like me that stand in the back and do healing to keep others alive? When I first entered the game, it had me buy a skill and I guess I bought a healing spell of some kind or something." The girl fumbled through the booklet like she had never touched a video game in her life. She also had no apparent weapon on her.

@Mari