Pollux

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Not too bad for her first try. Firefly was safe from that impromptu swim for now. Yue Hua’s tail came to a rest on top of Firefly’s hat, patting her gently. She sounded like she was doubting herself. Her nervous hope extinguished. Yue Hua was doing a lot of things to her that she had never wanted to. “I know. I trust your intentions are always good. You, and everyone in the guild.” Then Bistro sat down. Her interruption was welcome. But at her news, Yue Hua’s surprise was palpable. They invited another frontliner? Did they not congregate in their own specialized guilds? She swiveled

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approved.

approved.

note: nat. cd. stats irrelevant for 1st post. -> FISHING FOR MORETSUNA: 251108: CD 6: Fail.

This time, there was no call. The massive shuriken ripped through the horde. It traced an impossible trajectory, bouncing from one shambler to another until it reached a full circuit of four, then it wheeled back into its owner’s hands, who threw it again with little wind-up. The monsters that were crowding Yue Hua screamed like cicadas in the late afternoon. Some of them [Froze]. Yue Hua fought her way out of the wriggling mass, hacking and stabbing at its remnants with none of her previous heed to their pain. She had lost it somewhere in her charge. She emerged covered in blood and

She’d lost… three fights, was it? Saw her health bar descend to a critical level without fear or thought of forfeit. She hadn’t ever doubted what Kindling and Minako did to the arena, even if the hosts’ words were all she had to go by. Dueling was a sport that required a lot of trust. “With some adjustments, I won’t,” Yue Hua said, amused. “I can [Tier Lock] and deactivate a few skills. I’ve never done it myself before — my previous tournaments’ stat changes all took effect automatically — but it should feel like you’re facing a player of roughly the same level.” Match-ups of that type we

Yue Hua would have barely lifted her head at his quiet laugh. Hm? She didn’t hear that. More importantly, she noticed he hadn't answered her question and it only made her all the more curious. Was it intentional? Or was it that he didn't know what he meant by his own spiel? Corvo went a few steps ahead of her, pre-emptively heading in the arrow’s direction after a brief glance, and Yue Hua assumed a more relaxed pace. When she reached him, she lowered herself into a similar crouch, her palms beneath her chin. He looked proud of his find. Yue Hua’s expression didn’t change.

Oscar’s menu was so loaded that even Firefly’s diverse choices didn’t appear so esoteric to Yue Hua’s eyes. Or perhaps that only spoke to how well-traveled she was. Her overfilled plate was the next subject of Firefly’s curiosity. The big helping of crab and the hamburger she couldn’t easily slice in small aside, it appeared as though Yue Hua had availed herself of every item she had passed. “I’m going to eat everything,” she said confidently. She generally had the stomach to back it up. Ladling some soup from the seafood cauldron, Yue Hua tested its temperature with a cautious sip. “Oh,

“Olivia,” the girl said airily. “Head of Fermata’s field operations. You’re lucky to have me.” Yue Hua knew someone who was both a frontliner and a bigshot on a worldwide scale and she swore he didn’t have half this Fermata girl’s attitude. But she strove to maintain decency, reminding herself why she had brought her here. “Yue Hua, player name Pollux. Thank you for helping.” They hunted the last two mobs in the area separately, then they regrouped to heal each other’s wounds, and for her partner, to check their progress with [Tracking]. Olivia duplicated three m

She didn’t. She knew the moment its HP had ceased to drop. Against Morningstar, the newly summoned ghouls were like bubbles that popped at a single touch. He sent the damaged Leech Lich sprawling her way and Yue Hua’s weapon immediately lit with a flick of her hand. “Take the last hit,” she warned. Better to be redundant than to leave Morningstar to rely on a capability she currently did not have. Then, skipping the charge, she stabbed her sword downwards, impaling the struggling thing through its bony chest. Yue Hua kept it on the end of her sword as long as she could. Realistically

Of course, as soon as Yue Hua had transferred her things over to the Trackers’ table, Wulfrin appeared carrying a mountain of seafood. “...Wulfrin! Hello,” Yue Hua said, surprised. She glanced back the way he came and noticed that more people were starting to follow his example, and Warren, busy at the beverage wagon again, looked more proud for it than anything. The gigantic feast was only the appetizer. “I have never played golf but I’d like to learn sometime, if you’re willing to teach. How big is it? I’ve seen videos back in reality where the courses were so long that people had to use car

Firefly looked confused. "PvP?" Oh. “Player versus Player.” That rung a bell, but her friend still had concerns and Yue Hua was quick to answer them. Partly, she was a little defensive of her hobby. “SAO has three types of duels. First Strike, Half Loss, and Full Loss, which is a fight to the death. Typically, in the PvP scene, players compete in Half Loss duels, where the fight ends once one competitor hits half HP, but there has been the occasional tournament where the fights are Full Loss with system modifications to disallow HP from dropping to zero.” That was the Clash of Blades

Yue Hua’s smile faltered at the edges. They were at a standstill, the snapped off stems of the picked herb at Corvo’s feet. It seemed he was misunderstanding her, and worse, the sudden harshness of his tone left Yue Hua with the impression that he had taken offense. Few people became more difficult to read the more they talked — she was starting to consider Corvo one of those exceptions. “I think we’re playing a VRMMO. If that wasn’t obvious.” (A blade, she said in her head the moment she saw him. All sharp edges; the world being kept at bay lest it wishes to cut itself. She wo

Yue Hua’s brows lifted and her nacreous eyes found the nameplate now visible above the man’s head. “Oh,” she said mildly. She couldn’t tell if the coughing fit was brought on as a consequence of him choking on a laugh, but she took it in good humor, as she always did. “I see…! I’m very sorry, Warren. Are you new, or — have you not dropped by the guild headquarters yet? I live there, so I’m surprised I’ve not seen you around.” Their conversation was short-lived. The other early arrivals were also milling about in the vicinity of the wagon, so Warren excused himself to fetch everyone’s

Five dots scattered wide past the corner. Three in the large square hall, two behind closed doors. It was darker here. The lights were off, and Yue Hua had her hand on another switch, but she knew it wasn’t wise to flick it. She pictured the outcome was similar to waving a bright red flag in front of a searching bull — could she run fast and far enough to lose aggro and then come back later? She had only cleared the one area, what if there were more mobs lurking behind it? She glanced at her messenger, its brightness substantially lowered. SYL: They’ve spread far enough that you

Beach party. Trackers invited. Yue Hua shuttled off to the shared coordinates at the speed of light. It was only when she arrived to a mostly empty venue, Oscar's cornucopia of food at the last stage of cooking (Yue Hua had unknowingly ran past the man himself), that she realized she should have taken the slow route with Bistro. The cloud of dust left in her trail dispersed gently under the bright sun as Yue Hua stuck to the edge of the tables, clarifying her plans through her messenger. To: Bistro Pollux: i Pollux: got excited oops Pollux: i shall save us a table! To: Scarlet

Yue Hua watched approvingly as the cat disappeared into the headquarters, slipping through one of the many pet doors installed throughout the building. Hopefully, it hadn’t just detoured to the kitchens for an impromptu snack. On their secluded hill, the air was fresh and carried the sweetness of cut grass. Yue Hua sensed Firefly’s eyes on her, and when her own meandering gaze had drawn back to the girl, she was asking about her new armor and levels. The silver sword, the mithril necklace at her front, and the bottled aquarium that she felt strangely attached to. Since the day they f

Yue Hua quickly realized that, in her effort to be polite, she had failed to emphasize the urgency of the situation. More mobs could be spawning or climbing into the outpost for every second she spent idle. So she tabbed back to her messenger after a minute of waiting and sent a string of follow-up messages consisting only of red exclamation mark emotes. Then she rang Sibyl until he manually declined. He was too busy for her, but he was sending over one of his colleagues and he could keep her on the line until they arrived. What could be more important than another mob rush on Floor

Despite having just agreed to her plan, Morningstar was charging straight for the boss. Yue Hua opened her mouth but no sound came out. She was torn between yelling after him and trusting blindly that her leader knew what he was doing, given apparent evidence to the contrary. Ultimately, her indecision won out. Morningstar’s fist crashed into the barrier… and four Stygian Warriors dropped to the ground from the shockwave of it. Evaporated. And when the Leech Lich raised its four bony arms and attacked, Morningstar was the first player in its way. Yue Hua shut her mouth and concl

—Or he was funding it out of his own pocket. Yue Hua looked from Morningstar, to the holographic board, then back to Morningstar. This sort of technology was meant to be unheard of in their setting. Her tail swished behind her as she came to a familiar conclusion. Frontliners are impressive...! Timid Firefly then chose that moment to show off Wulfrin's craft, a sword that dwarfed Yue Hua's own, and Yue Hua didn't comment on it, believing it wasn't her opinion that was being sought, but her interest was piqued. She quickly amended as she finished off her croissant and reached for anot

Yue Hua wasn’t too enthusiastic about killing these human shaped mobs. But they’d caged a few for observation once and someone pointed out to her how they were suffering. There was no cure in sight and every week they risked being overrun with them. As with any old video game, it was their lives against the enemies’. She tried her best to make the process as quick as possible. She ran through the second Shambler in her way and skidded to a kneel at the end of the corridor, clicking her sword back into its sheath. Sections of lighting had been taken out by the mobs’ flailing (another

As was quickly becoming the standard, Yue Hua woke up and Cardinal had dropped an event on top of her head. She had dozens of notifications to check off, both from the guild channels and the system itself, and past the walls of the Trackers Alliance's F29 outpost, Ilridge had experienced an abrupt change in soundtrack. Before anything else, Yue Hua rushed to the nearest window and flung it open. Popped her head out, her iridescent eyes wide, her entire being unkempt. The first culprit was a red-haired boy on a makeshift stage, yelling at the top of his lungs. "GIVE IT UP FOR STY/L!”

"You're trying to teach her the -- what was it..." Yue Hua needed to brush up on her familiar knowledge. "The scouting skill?" Myst hopped out of Firefly's arms, as if suddenly resistant to cuddles now that it remembered it was about to be put to work. It stuck close, however, rubbing against Firefly's leg when its owner's mood dimmed. Yue Hua watched the exchange, unable to suppress a smile. "If only Aincrad accepted therapy cats, she would have passed in an instant." This development comforted her. Ultimately, Yue Hua was not one to govern how her acquaintances ought to navigate t