[F06 - SP] A duel of fate <<The Gemini>>

[Katagawa 0]

Hokori wanted to explore some of the towns before properly heading out to do some questing. She felt it would be better to know why they were fighting besides to get out of the game. If she could find some insight into the creator, it might mean she could discern what they would tend towards in their creative process.

Of course, a game isn't made by just one person. At least, not one of this scale. He may have had the final say in things, but many people would be involved in the creative process. Perhaps there will be patterns that I can find in each persons creations, though I don't know who worked on what. I would enjoy this much more if I could research things properly.

Hokori found herself on the sixth floor. She didn't have a particular destination in mind, just wanted to have a look around. There were the general curiosity shops and some NPC run places, though nothing that really pulled her interest.

Perhaps there will be more further into the town. I suppose I've already wasted two years, what's a few more hours.

[Katagawa 0]

Hokori kept going through the town, not seeing much of interest. She found the architecture interesting. Many of the structures were in the trees, but the walkways were made such that she could get around without much struggle. The multiple layer design also allowed for buildings to be packed in much tighter than normal. If it wasn't all virtual, She would be quite impressed. But, she knew that this could all just be faked by the designers of the game. Maybe she would suggest the idea to one of her architect friends. She was one of the few girls she knew at that college and was always talking about helping people in the tropics. This could be a good idea if it was actually viable in the real world. It meant that the villages could still keep their general style while not worrying too much about running out of room to expand. Maybe she was just overthinking this. She wouldn't be out of this game for quite some time, best not to already start taking notes on what she would need to remember.

[Katagawa 0]

As Hokori continued to go through the tropic town, she found that there were multiple hooded figures around the place. They were doing their best to remain concealed, but there was little they could do to hide when people were already weaving through the branches to get around. She did have to give them credit though, it wasn't a terrible idea. She knew it was a safe zone, so all she had to worry about were pick pockets.

Not that I have much anything of value on me. Unless they can pick pocket from my account, which would not be the fairest thing to do. I don't think I impose much of a juicy target anyways. Hopefully I can keep an air of confidence to make sure that no one is tempted to steal from me.

With this in mind, Hokori began to walk with her back a bit more straight, trying to keep almost a sense of nobility around her. One she had practiced ever since she had told her parents she would make sure they could live in comfort one day. And though it was back to being a dream, she would not give up on it yet.

[Katagawa 0]

Hokori continued to look around the city, she was about to give up looking for anything of note when she thought she saw a girl with pink hair. She turned around to try and focus on it and didn't see it again. Going over to where she thought she had seen the girl, Hokori found herself a little disappointed. Even if it was just an NPC, seeing that outlandish of a color would be interesting to learn about. She knew that there were cosmetics to change one's hair color, but she didn't think anyone would spend the time and col to do it.

Probably just an NPC that despawned.

Hokori made her way to a nearby inn. Letting herself in, she noticed that it wasn't the most reputable of places. She stood out a bit more than she liked, and decided it would be best to not stay. Though she didn't see it, one of the many hooded figures got up as she left the place.

[Katagawa 0]

Hokori walked out of the place, not wanting to be there for any longer than it took to realize she shouldn't be there. As she walked out though, she felt a strange presence behind her. She didn't acknowledge it until she was a little ways out. Turning around, she noticed it was one of the many hooded figures that were around the place right now. She had noticed several in the Inn but didn't think any would bother to follow.

"Do you want something?"

"You look pretty strong."

Hokori was a little surprised. It seemed as though her ruse had worked a little too well. She had just come up here to see the sights as a low level player and was already being complimented for her strength. Maybe there was something a little different about them, or perhaps it was just some pre-scripted dialogue. Either way, HOkori was flattered by it.

[Katagawa 0]

"And what does that have to do with anything." Hokori was feeling a bit irritated by the vague responses of the NPC. At least, she thought it was an NPC as there was no marker above its head. It was just beating around the bush, with no real weight to its statements.

"I'm looking to test my skills. If you beat me, I'll teach you a hidden skill, what do you say?"

"Sounds like a deal, where would you like to hold this duel?"

"Just outside of the safe zone, I'll meet you there."

With that, the hooded figure vanished. Hokori was a little confused why it couldn't just initiate the duel here. Maybe it wanted slightly more open ground, or perhaps the rules just worked a little bit differently for NPCs. Though a bit nervous to finally leave a safe zone, she decided it would be better to see them there rather than have them wait for all of eternity.

[Katagawa 0]

Hokori made her way towards the safe zone's edge. It was an odd feeling. She figured that when she did leave the safe zone for the first time it would be on the first or maybe the second floor. The monsters here would be much more difficult for her to face, and likely more aggressive than others on lower floors. Hopefully, the hooded figure would keep to their promise and only be just outside it.  As she neared the edge, she spotted a sizable clearing. She wasn't sure if it was actually outside of the safe zone itself or just inside of it, but wondered if she would be fighting the hooded figure in there. She realized that this fight could mean her death, though hopefully she could be spared from it if she did lose. They had mistaken her for being strong, so that probably meant that were quite powerful themselves.

I guess we'll get to find out. Mom, Dad, I'm sorry if I fail you. I will do everything I can to succeed, though I do not wish that I fail in the end.

[Katagawa 0]

Hokori went towards the arena, feeling herself exiting the safe zone before reaching it. Once she was there a voice echoed out.

"I see you didn't take long to take me up on my little challenge." The voice sounded familiar, but Hokori couldn't place it.

"I sense some hesitation from you, are you a little scared of the fight?"

How could it tell what she was thinking? "I don't come here to mess around. If we're going to fight, then let us fight honorably, face to face."

"So be it."

Out of the trees came someone who looked almost exactly like Hokori, just with different colors. Instead of blonde hair, they had brown, and their armor's cloth was dyed a red instead of blue. Hokori became a little worried, it seemed that this thing knew just about everything about her. If it did, this fight might become more a battle of wits then strength.

[Katagawa 0]

If that's what it wants, then so be it. I can fight on the turf of the mind, that's where all strength is equal.

"If you know so much about me, why bother copying me. If you know me so well, you should know I'm not the strongest of players." Hokori stood as still as she could in the clearing, trying to keep the air of confidence about her. It was hard to do though, as she was slowly faltering in knowing that this opponent would be able to see right through any facade she had.

"You of all people should have already figured out this is not a battle of physical strength."

She knew how right they were, and hoped that they weren't directly linked into her mind. It would be a terrifying thought if this were brought into a fight and they could see every move she would make. She would need to be careful before proceeding.

[Katagawa 0]

"If you want to fight, then I suggest you come at me"

"I thought you knew me. I'm not going to start a fight with an opponent I don't know. You're just trying to bait me into attacking while you still have the higher ground."

"If you don't know me, then why don't I tell you a few things. I am but a simple duplicator. I can copy someone. I hold no name and no way of recognizing me. I exist only to be your bane now. If you truly choose not to fight me now, perhaps we can find an agreement elsewhere."

"No, we can fight now. Though let's hope for the loser's sake we don't build up an audience."

"Than an audience there shall be. I wouldn't want to make you feel shameless for your loss."

"For someone trying to duplicate me, you really don't know me that well."

[Katagawa 0]

"Fine then, I'll make this quick" The mirror version of Hokori charged at her, letting out a guttural scream.

Caught off guard, Hokori did her best to draw her sword in defense of the attack. It wasn't much, but she did get it out of the sheathe before sword hit armor. She felt the damage eat through her health bar, but watched as herself reeled back from the blow.

The mirror version breathed heavily. "What do you have on yourself. I just went for a simple hit!"

"You really need to study more then." Hokori pointed her sword at the creature. "Yield, before there is further bloodshed."

""I would never yield to someone like you."

"There is no need for you to die. You can still live. You asked to test your skill and have found yourself weaker than me, is that not enough for you?"

"No, no it isn't"

Spoiler

Roll ID: #103981

BD: 9 - minor crit

MD: 8 + 1 = 9 - hit

Katagawa: HP: 15/20 - ENG: 1/2 (-1 hit)

Gemini: HP: 0 / 10 (-9 thorns; -2 damage)

 

[Katagawa 0]

"So, you wanted to humiliate me, expecting for it to be easy?"

"You were weak, this is your first time out of a safe zone. How could defeat anyone that easily."

"When you pick your gear just right, it doesn't seem to take that much to take someone on."

"Cheapskate"

"What was that?"

"I said you were a cheapskate. You're just going to defeat me without even throwing a single swing and then to humiliate me further, you let me live."

"I let you live not so you are humiliated, but so you can learn." She had it on the ground now, still being held at sword point. "Besides, you promised a hidden skill if I did win. Was that all just a lie to get me to fight you?"

"I know a hidden skill, though I have no intention of teaching it to you."

"A deal's a deal, why don't you give the information and we can both be on our merry way."

[Katagawa 0]

"Fine, though it's not as much of a skill as you make it out to be." The duplicate of Hokori opened up a menu, typing a few things out before pressing a button. Hokori herself got a notification with some information. It seemed as though the clone gave her some sort of skill called concentration. It was an interesting name for something such a mischievous being would have.

"Thank you." Hokori removed her sword from the clone's throat and let them get up to dust themselves off. The skirt of her armor really wasn't meant to be laying down in.

"Now you'll finish me off won't you?"

"No, you don't need to die today." She meant it to, there was no reason to be vengeful. Though she could enact a small revenge towards Kayaba by taking out one of his creations, it wouldn't really effect him. He would just take notes of it and enjoy that others played his game.

[Katagawa 0]

""So be it"

The duplicate tried charging at Hokori again, but she quickly sidestepped the attack. They just kept on going, all the way into the cover of the trees away from the safe zone. It seemed as though she would be stuck there to live her life in shame. It was pitiful really, they would feel they had to live their existence in shame when in reality they could still be fine. All they wished was to test their skill against hers. And though they seemed to underestimate her, it still gave an evaluation of where their skill lay. Though it does seem that wasn't what they were going for, they just wanted an easy target that they could pick on without much backlash. She did look strong, so if she had lost it would've made for a very good ruse.

But I didn't, and thank goodness to. I probably would've died if I had lost that fight.

[Katagawa 0]

Hokori returned into the safe zone, not wanting to leave herself vulnerable longer than she had to. Though she knew the safe zones weren't perfectly safe, they were still much safer than being outside of one. At least she wouldn't have to worry about people stabbing her in the back. She didn't think anyone in this game would actually become a murderer, though having a new power can make people act much differently than they would otherwise. She had seen it happen a lot with her political science friends. They were always very nice, until they got elected. Then all hat power would just go straight to their heads and they became crude and manipulative. Perhaps it was just that Hokori never noticed that they were manipulating her until they got blatant with it, but the fact remained that power corrupts all no matter how noble the intentions of the person is.

[Katagawa 0]

Once inside the safe zone, Hokori decided it was time she got herself a drink. She knew she couldn't get drunk in the game, but hopefully the tingling sensation of something going down her throat would offer some relief. She had the new skill, and that wasn't nothing. She won the duel she was expecting to lose quite quickly, so that meant that she was a bit more powerful than she thoughts. At least, she picked the right gear. She attributed most of that fight to luck. There was little she had actually done to win that fight, just let her armor do the job for her. Maybe it was just the game pulling a cruel prank on her, but that fight seemed to be much easier than it was built up to be. Perhaps she had found an unintentional expoit, or maybe a bug they hadn't fixed. Now that she though about it, there really wasn't a lot of bugs in this game. It was quite strange, most games nowadays shipped with tons of bugs in them, but she hadn't seen any yet. Of course, she hadn't done much of anything in this game yet besides looking for bugs in the Town of beginnings.

[Katagawa 0]

It took her a bit of searching, but Hokori eventually managed to find herself an Inn she could get herself a drink at. She found herself a table to herself and ordered something rather weak. If she couldn't get drunk like she was at a college party, than may as well not spend all of her cash on fancy drinks. While drinking, she reflected on how she could possibly work her way to the top a little bit faster. It would take time to get to the level that she suspected the front liners to be at. If they were a bit lower, she could probably make it there without an issue. She had considered doing a cost benefit analysis of hunting for game breaking bugs, but decided the risk would be worth it. She hadn't expected this game to carry such a level of polish to it though. In the two years of her searching, there hadn't been a single one to be found. It meant that she was going to be much further back than she had hoped. She hadn't kept up too much with the news, but it seemed the players were going to make a run at the next boss pretty soon.

[Katagawa 0]

Knowing that they were just about to clear another floor, Hokori figured she could measure her progress in relation to how many floors had been cleared since she had begun to level. She didn't know how fast the leveling system was in this game, so she couldn't truly determine what would be considered on pace for leveling up. There also didn't seem to be a consistent pace with how often floors were cleared. She had remembered seeing months in between some of the floors, but that may have been due to other circumstances she wasn't aware of. Because there was no consistency with the pacing of the game, Hokori decided it would be best to just focus on leveling as fast as she could. Though she could measure her progress against others, there was no sense in using that to truly measure worth. With some simple head math, she did figure that she could make it to the front lines before floor 30 without much of any issue.

[Katagawa 0]

With a long term goal set into place, Hokori turned her mind more towards a mid to short term goal. She needed to decide how she wanted to make her way to the top. It wasn't likely that she could get there with just damage alone. Though it was an easy way to the top if she went with some of the more popular damage builds, she didn't feel that was a good way for the front lines to be pushed forward as much. She thought instead she could focus on tanking or supporting. Though she didn't know what the composition of people on the front lines currently was, those two roles were usually what was lacking in most games communities. Most people wanted to try and be the star DPS player, with few willing to take the secondary roles. If she took those kind of roles, it was possible that she could function much better on the front lines. It was also possible that she could find herself making more friends for the harder quests.

[Katagawa 0]

Hokori finished her drink and left the Inn, still a little uncomfortable with the stares she received from some of the men. Hopefully the people on the front lines wouldn't be nearly as unkind or scrupulous as they were. It was quite unsettling, but an expected part of any game's communities. She had been accused before of being a gamer simply to get boy's attention, and she never liked that. Though she was admittedly a gamer because she wanted to fit in with the other students at her college, she had found herself enjoying games more and more as a way to escape that busy life.

I guess I've come into the greatest escape yet, and who knows how long of an escape from the real world this will be. I can imagine some of the news that might be reporting on this, trying to sensationalize it and vilify video games even further.

Hokori went to the teleport pad, and decided it would be best to go back to the first floor to do the starter quests that would more than likely exist in a game like this.

Spoiler

Gemini Completed (gemini spared):

• 3 Additional SP
• 600 Col
• Extra Skill: <<Concentration>>

1 page of RP completed: 1 SP and 400 Col

Totals: 4 SP and 1000 Col