[PP-F1] <<The first few lessons are free>> Did someone say free?

[Cr0wnS 0]

Spoiler

 

August strolled through the town of beginnings just as he had done a thousand times before. He had a general knowledge of how to get around and he had visited a lot of the NPC stores that littered the various side streets, not that he had enough money for copious amounts of shopping but he liked to try at least one thing from stalls who sold foods that piqued his interest. It was nice outside, then again, it was rarely anything other than sunny on the first floor. August assumed it had something to do with the way the game was designed, although it could just be a coincidence. The warm air and sunshine made him feel relaxed, and he regularly spent time lying on grassy patches just outside the Town of Beginnings. The other day he had discovered a store on the verges of the town that he hadn't been in before. There was a rickety wooden sign hanging from a rafter above the door that read "Zakariah's", beyond that August could not discern what the store actually sold, but there was a pleasant aroma that hung around the store, almost like the owner had been brewing the most delicious smelling perfumes. 

He decided to investigate the store, however as he approached it seemed closed. The shadows from the surrounding buildings dwarfed the small store, however it was cute, almost like a little toy. August walked up to the door and loudly knocked three times, and just as he finished the third knock he heard the sound of feet shuffling near the door, as if someone was waiting for an arrival. An elderly man opened the door and smiled at August, who responded in kind with a confused look. 

"Hello there young man! Would you like to come in?"

August just stood there in slight disbelief at the welcoming nature of the man, "Uh sure" he responded as he stepped inside. The familiar sweet scent filled his nose and he was drawn further into the store, the old man closed the door and shuffled behind him. "How lucky of you to come! I need help from a strong young man like yourself. Do you think you could help me?" the man asked, turning around to face August with his hands clasped together. August responded with silence and a nod. The man turned back around and walked further into the store, "Well I need someone to gather some materials for me, it shouldn't be too hard they drop on this floor! Not to far from this town" he declared.

A small quest log opened up "Do you accept? [Y/N]"

August pressed the yes as the mans face lit up and he addressed August one last time, "Thank you kindly young man, return to me once you've collected enough materials." Without anymore the man disappeared back into the store. This was going to be boring, but maybe August could do something to make it more interesting and get it over faster. He opened up his menu and opened his message bank. There was a pair of players that he had run into the other day that seemed interesting, they hadn't talked much but he thought maybe they'd be interested in doing this quest with him.

[Kian 0]

Osgii was walking along the roads of the Town of Beginings with her sister, just perusing the various shops liek tthey had many times before. Though there was a few times they talked with others, they mostly just tried to get by these past two years. They were unsure whether they wished to move forward, as escaping this game meant going back to their almost certainly angered father. They would probably believe they knew that the trap was coming and were trying to put themesselves in danger for it. She walked up to one of the more rickety shops that was always closed and noticed that the door was open. "Shall we go in? There may be something of interest here." It was a curious place, though she was unsure if it would be up to her and her sistere's standards for what constituted an actually decent shop. "We have seen all of the good shops, may as well see if there is anything of worth in those with less value."

[Ulaan 0]

Walking along the place with her sister, Beelii was wondering if there was anything interessting in this town at all. She had managed to charm a few NPCs into giving her and her sister some free gear, mostly just vanity items. Other than that, there seemed to be no use in doing much of anything in this game. Her sister was correct that their father would almost certainluy ccome down on the two of them for being trapped in this death game. There was no way around that unless they died in here or remained trapped. Perhaps they could make a living with however far the front liners got. As they approached a rather run-down shop, she agreed with her sister. "It could be interesting. And there is so little else to do in this drab town." Even if therewas nothing of note to be found inside of the shop, they could at least have a laugh at the poor condition of the shop.

@Cr0wnS

[Cr0wnS 0]

Just as August was typing the names of the players he was messaging, the door behind him opened and two players stepped in, ironically it wasn't the two players he was thinking of. It appeared to be two sisters, based off the fact that they shared similar appearances as well as their clothes, despite being different colours, were essentially the same. They were shorter than August although he couldn't quite tell if they were his age, older, or younger than him. He wasn't about to ask however, as he might offend one or both of them. Similarly to when he entered, the man appeared out of the back and shuffled over, opening the door as if they weren't there. August just assumed this was some pre-scripted event that started the quest.

"Hello there young ladies! Would you like to come in?". The two were already in the shop so he skipped ahead a few steps. August just stared as the script was being played out and the two screens appeared in front of the pair, asking if they'd accept the quest. Since he was just about to leave to do the same quest, August mustered up the courage to ask the pair, "If you guys are going to take the quest, want to do it with me? You know, since it would probably be faster or whatever." To him this seemed the most logical way to say it without making it sound too weird. 

All the while the old man was just frozen in place as he waited for the two to either accept or deny the quest. It was a little creepy as there didn't seem to be any natural movement, like breathing or even the slight shifting of his feet as he stood there. 

@Kian

Edited October 4, 2018 by Cr0wnS

[Kian 0]

As the two of the sisters walked into the shop, they were almost immediately debating about leaving the place. It was rather stale smelling and didn't seem to have any wares in it whatsoever. Osgii was about to speak up when she was interrupted by an NPC. They spoke about requiring a little bit of help and then a quest window popped up in front of her. Knowing that her sister would be rather confused, she just shrugged and pressed the accept button. Even if they were to just push their way up a little bit, they wouldn't need to fight on the front lines. As it stood, they were stuck here bored as it was. Perhaps if they were a bit stronger they could go see what other interesting places there were to be had in Aincrad. Waiting for her sister to accept the quest as well, she silently communicated with her sister for her distaste in this place. The disgust was visible in both of their eyes.

[Ulaan 0]

Beelii had followed her sister into the shop, and was greeted with a stale stench and a quest request. Seeing her sister press the accept button, she followed suit. They also seemed to share the disgust for this place, so she was hoping to get out of here quickly. Even if it meant they could go to more places, she didn't want to be in such a revolting place any longer than she had to be. But before the two of them could turn out of the shop, they were interrupted by someone else who seemed to be taking on the quest as well. Noticing that they weren't all that confident, at least judging by how long it took for them to make their presence known, Beelii thought it might be fun to tease him a little bit. "I don't know, would you want to help a couple of poor girls like us." She batted her eyes at him a little bit and stood all cute and innocent, knowing her sister was going to have a bit of an internal laugh at this. It was something the two of them would often do when people would try to approach them at the mall. It usually resulted in a laugh at their embarrassment, free stuff, or both.

@Cr0wnS

[Cr0wnS 0]

August stood there for a second contemplating his answer, all the while his facial expression didn't change. In all honesty they probably thought he was some kind of halfwit from the amount of time he was taking to respond to a yes or no question. In the end, the conclusion he drew was a simple "Sure", as he opened his menu and send the two a party request. Their attempt at trying to charm him flew straight over August's head as he stood there blissfully unaware of what was really going on. All the while the old man continued his speech in the background, "Thank you kindly! Return to me when..", however August turned to him and bluntly interrupted, "We know, thanks". He wasn't trying to be rude, but it was an NPC and he had already heard it before. The man simply smiled and retreated to the back of the shop, behind the stacks of papers and empty glass containers that were collecting dust on the many bookshelves and tables that were scattered around the room. "Well, shall we go?" August gestured towards the door before swiftly making his way towards the exit, out into the fresh air of the starting town.

The two girls that had entered the shop were cute but that didn't particularly have much effect on August at the present moment. Mostly due to the fact that most of that stuff just went in one ear and out the other. He was a bit inexperienced in that right so it was difficult for him to understand when someone was trying to flirt with him, even as a joke. The small in game clock on his HUD said that it was just before mid day, so the group had the rest of the day to see if they could gather these materials.

@Kian

Edited October 4, 2018 by Cr0wnS

[Kian 0]

Osgii was glad to finally see her sister's charms fail in this game. Of course, it seemed to be more from cluelessness than them actually failing to charm him. She gave a slight nod to her sister to knock it out for now and moved to follow the boy after accepting his party invite. For a moment, the almost permanent party Osgii and Beelii had been in dissipated, though she expected her to quickly join in the now larger party. Once outside of the shop, the air was much clearer than inside the musty shop. At least here they wouldn't have to be in close quarters with anybody if they so chose. Here they would be able to wander a bit more as they pleased. Of course now they had a purpose, and Osgii knew that meant heading outside of the gates. Though it was going to be a first for the both of them, she knew it would be a nice step in order ot have a bit more fun in Aincrad.

[Ulaan 0]

As the boy ignored her little advances, Beelii gave a little pout once he was out of the shop. She wasn't used to people being so clueless. Maybe next time she could be a bit more obvious. Hearing the ding of someone leaving the party, she realized her sister had joined the boy's party. Seemed as though the three of them would be having an outing after all. Getting a little giddy, Beelii quickly made her way out of the shop with her sister and took a whiff of the fresher air. It still wasn't the best, and was obviously a virtual scent, but it would do. Even though they were trapped in here, it meant they were free from their father's wrath. Of course, that meant he would be all the more furious when the two of them got back to Mongolia. For now though, it seemed Osgii was wanting the two of them to improve and make their way to more interesting areas.

@Cr0wnS

[Cr0wnS 0]

The party headed towards the large entrance to the <<Town of Beginnings>>, which was not a very long journey considering that the shop was located in a part of the city that was in close proximity to the entrance. When they reached there August opened his quest log to see where he could obtain these materials from. It seemed that there was just a general item that the system dubbed <<Material>>, which could be obtained from a variety of sources including mob drops and gathering. The quest specifically requested that the materials be retrieved from gathering however, which would be a nice relaxing way to spend an afternoon. From his map, August saw a forest not too far from the entrance of the starting town, which might be inhabited by some low level enemies. He pointed the two girls towards the forest and explained what they would be doing. The three would stick together in a loose group and see what materials they could find just from the forest floor.

After about half an hour of walking, the group were deep into the forest, and they could finally stop and start looking. August bent down to the ground and started sifting around the base of a nearby tree, unfortunately however, there was nothing there except dirt, much to August's dismay. "So, I never actually asked, do you guys prefer to be called your in game names or something else?" Previously he had been just calling them their screen names, which now that he thought about it might have been a bit rude.

Quote

ID# 106630

• Battle: 2
• Craft: 8
• Loot: 7
• Mob: 6

@Kian

Edited October 4, 2018 by Cr0wnS

[Kian 0]

Though the fields themselves were not the cleanest of places, Kian relented herself knowing that it was all virtual. Though she would prefer not to be following behind someone, she wasn't going to put up a fight about it for now. Once they reached the forest, Kian did her best to look around for some items that were considered materials while not dirtying her hands too much. Sure it was virtual, but the dirt was just as coarse here. She plucked herself some sort of fruit from a tree as the boy, who she knew was Crowns from the party display, asked if there was anything else they wished to be called. Glances were exchanged between the two sisters as they silently told each other their ideas and shared a little plan. It seemed it would be best if Beelii took on thew introductions. She was always the more sociable one anyways, so no point in letting her try to do the talking.

Spoiler

Roll ID: #106676

LD: 17 - mat found (1/5)

 

[Ulaan 0]

Beelii was sick and tired of having to walk through all of this grass. If it wasn't for it all being virtual, she was almost certain her heel would've broken by now. Thankfully, it shouldn't be able to break without her having a bit of warning though. She ended up grabbing an acorn from one of the trees as they entered the forest. Her sister was avoiding the dirt as much as possible, same as her. Neither of them were that accustomed to being outdoors like this. They were usually the ones who only went out for shopping or parties. As the boy named Crowns asked his question, she communicated with her sister. Though she would know better if they should reveal their true identities, she would end up to be the one to talk this time. "What name you see is what name you get sweetie. It takes a little more than just a simple question to get to know someone." She kept the teasing up, knowing that they would probably not catch any of it. Now that she knew what kind of person they were, it made it all the more fun to do it. She and her sister would be having some good laughs when this was all over.

Spoiler

ROll ID: #106677

LD: 156 - mat found (1/5)

@Cr0wnS

[Cr0wnS 0]

August saw the other two manage to find something and felt slightly dejected, it seemed as though he wasn't any closer to completing the mission, and perhaps this was going to take all day. The girl responded with some remark, and August responded in kind, "Well lucky we're out here, it would be a good opportunity to get to know each other, where are you guys from?" Yet again it had completely flown over his head that the pair were teasing him. He decided to change his strategy, perhaps the girls were right and the trees were where the resources were. However, much to his disappointment, the tree that he had decided to search was completely empty, the only thing that could be found was sticks and leaves, not anything that could be useful for their quest. "Hm, this might take a bit longer than expected, sorry, guess I'm not lucky today." He held a small smile and let out a soft sigh before sitting down on the ground and staring up at the canopy of trees, the small amounts of light that were shining through warmed up his body slightly, adding to the nice temperature of the day. The sun was shining and the humidity was nice, in all honesty August couldn't help but think that perhaps there were times in here that were better than on the outside. These thoughts however, were quickly replaced by the memories of his friend and a wave of depression crashed over him. As per usual he took a deep breath and calmness returned to him, he had practiced getting rid of these thoughts while spending time in the city.

Quote

ID# 106697

• Battle: 4
• Craft: 2
• Loot: 10
• Mob: 9

@Kian

 

Edited October 5, 2018 by Cr0wnS

[Kian 0]

Though the search had begun well, Osgii's reluctance to get dirt under her manicured nails was leading to less resources coming her way. As she sat there and listened to her sister tease the poor boy a little more, she was surprised at his question. Surely he would be able to tell where they were from, he was speaking in their language of course. That's when it hit her. The game was likely to have a translator set up automatically for their use. Though she and her sister knew some Japanese, they had been using Mongolian to speak most of the time as it was easier for them. She had assumed people didn't know what they were saying most of the time, but it did appear there was. A translator in use. "Mongolia, you?" She interjected, not wanting her sister to give a flowery answer like she knew she would.

Spoiler

ROll ID: #106744

LD: 7 - no mats (1/5)

 

[Ulaan 0]

Beelii was seeming to have a little bit more luck, grabbing another fruit hanging from one of the many trees in the area. She was about to take a bite out of it when it turned into a material in her hands. She was sad the boy was being so clueless, and was honestly wondering if it was an act. She was about to continue her teasing when her sister gave a quick answer. Her tesing smile faded as she turned away towards more gathering. Her sister did like to take the fun out of getting answers to and from people. It meant things went faster, but there was so much more that she could do with it. She could feel the resistance to her frustration coming from her twin as she tried her best not to let it be known. Eventually, her smile returned and she did her best to make her teasing as subtle as possible without being obvious to the boy.

Spoiler

Roll ID: #106745

LD: 15 - mat foudn (2/5)

@Cr0wnS

[Cr0wnS 0]

August had never met someone from that far away before, but maybe he had, he had just never asked where they were from. "Oh nice, I guess that means that you guys aren't speaking in English then? Interesting. I'm from the US." August didn't have much interest in visiting Mongolia, but to be honest, travelling anywhere would have been an experience. "Whats it like? I've never been, actually in saying that I've never been outside of the states." While talking to the girls he decided to look through a neighbouring tree, and in between its leaves was a small glowing round ball that he could only assume was what he was looking for. August picked it up and a little ding sounded as a popup appeared in his HUD, <<Materials Collected 1/5>>. "Huh, we might be out here a while if we need 5 of these things." He turned back around to the girls "So how did you guys end up playing SAO? I mean, me and one of my friends were obsessed with it before its release and we were overjoyed when we got a chance to play it." August quickly remembered the countless hours the pair had spent going over every single bit of information they could find about the game.

@Kian

Quote

ID: 106898

• Battle: 3
• Craft: 4
• Loot: 16
• Mob: 5

FINALLY :|

Materials collected 1/5

 

Edited October 7, 2018 by Cr0wnS

[Kian 0]

Osgii was able to find herself another item as Crown began to elaborate about his own position. Though her and her twin were being rather terse with their answers, Crown seemed to not hide much about himself. It was weird seeing someone being so open with their life. Though in this game it wasn't as though the information could really go anywhere, it could still one day get out if the game was beaten. Hearing a question about their own hometown, Kian gave the quick answer again. "Cold." There was no need for much more explanation. As he gave his second question, she silently conferred with her sister once more and they decided to let Beelii take on the question for herself. As it was more personal, her more flowery speaking would help disguise some of the finer points neither of them would wish to show so readily, not until they knew if they could trust people.

Spoiler

Roll ID: #106983

LD: 14 - mat found (2/5)

 

[Ulaan 0]

There was little else for her to speak about while the two exchanged as one-sided as possible. It was good that they could get some information from him without giving up much of their own. Osgii was doing a good job of only giving the bare minimum. Of course, when things needed to get more specific Osgii turned to her. Giving a faint smile, and widening it into a grin when she turned towards Crowns, she quickly began to speak to him. Her words flowed together a bit, making it hard to stop and focus on the details of the words. "We are just here for an escape from others. Others who would want us not to have run away. Of course, who knew if we would be running towards something, or perhaps someone." Ulaan was moving a little bit closer, hoping to see if she could make the boy a little uncomfortable.

Spoiler

Roll ID: #106984

LD: 15 - mat found (3/5)

@Cr0wnS

[Cr0wnS 0]

"Hm, interesting." The girl called Kian didn't really give him much of a response to go off of. The other sister, going by her username of Ulaan, moved slightly closer to August, which made him a bit confused, maybe she had noticed something that he didn't. He let out an awkward cough and knelt down to the ground to look for more materials, "Well that's...a terrifying way of looking at it?" August thought perhaps she was exaggerating for dramatic effect, but if there was someone that was chasing them then at least for the moment they would be safe. The lingering threat of death if someone removed the Nervegear would keep them in the game for at least as long as all of them were trapped in there. As he sifted through the dirt, August hoped that he would at least find some material that would progress him further in this quest, however, despite his best efforts there was nothing but more dirt, he was destined to be stuck on this quest forever. "Well, nothing to be found here..." August let out a sigh, luck was not on his side today, while the girls seemed to be steamrolling through their quest. It seemed that the girls didn't seem to be opening up at all to him so he resigned to the fact that maybe he should wait for them to ask him some questions.

@Kian

Quote

ID# 107005

• Battle: 3
• Craft: 3
• Loot: 1
• Mob: 6

 

Edited October 8, 2018 by Cr0wnS

[Kian 0]

Not wanting to keep poking around in the dirt, Osgii made her way towards some more of the trees. There was little on the branches this time around and certainly nothing that would work as a material. Crowns seemed to be quieting down with the questions, so she and Beelii exchanged glances and decided to keep the silence for now. Neither of them felt the need to get information from thie little boy, but they still needed to make sure they weren't completely useless in this game. After all, there would need to be a bit of effort if they wanted to avoid their fathers anger. Osgii didn't think that killing would be the answer to their problems, but perhaps it could work if they needed a more permanent solution. Not like they would lessen their father's rage by being model citizens in this death game. If being citizens even applied when in a video game.

Spoiler

ROll ID: #107101

LD: 4 - no chest :(

2/5 mats