(PP|F1) Time to start <<TFFLAF>>

[Nines 0]

Ayota had been watching players level up, watching them grow and bloom into great towers of hope and shining light. It bugged him, he'd been coping with the world around him being his new life and as he finally accepted the harsh truth he couldn't stand to set foot out of town only to see players using the forest he'd feared so much as a tourist attraction. He felt like an old soldier on the battlefield watching people learn about history standing where his brothers had died. it burned inside. But today he would face the music, forcing himself to step out of his shell and learn to play the game properly.

He'd step up to the home plate and look inside Zackiriah's store only to feel a deep chill run down his spine. He's just an NPC, he isn't a real person. The young boy would try to reassure himself. He takes a deep breath and opens the door, walking up to the old feller and waving at him. "Hello sir, I'm Nines, I heard you had a quest for me..." His words felt forced and his body gave the same shy aura.

After the old man had explained the stuff Ayota would be looking for, the young boy would walk out and find himself lost in such a vast city and open floor. He couldn't ask anyone because that might inconvenience them and he couldn't just try to find his way because he could get lost and end up dying to something totally lame like a boar or a wolf.

Edited April 25, 2020 by Nines

[Shye 0]

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

[Nines 0]

Not long after he had stepped out, Ayota felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned around to see a girl standing there. She'd caught him off guard,  but even if he had been expecting her his reaction wouldn't have been much better than what she got. He let out a very weak sound that sounded like they could almost be words, but were just too high pitched and slurred to be understood. After she asked her question though and he took half a moment to think, the boy would kindly yet weakly, smile and answer with a simple, "Yes, please do." He could count the times he'd left town on one hand, and even then he was barely a stones throw from home. He couldn't imagine what those people who went out and pushed on the frontlines went through everyday.

He would assume she had no idea where to go either, which wouldn't be the best thing. All he knew was that it was out in the field and not in the Town of Beginnings. He would put on his bravest face, which being honest, isn't very... and he would try to take the lead. "I think I have an idea of where to go, but like you I haven't left town very much." He would explain, his words quiet and weak-willed. He was once a confident and bold young boy, but had become this shy husk of a kid, and being trapped in a game with a bunch of strangers and possible murderers didn't exactly help with his busting out of his shell.

@Shye

[Shye 0]

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

[Nines 0]

As they made their way through the town, she spoke and he had to think of a response to every sentence she spoke. luckily that wasn't a lot, but it was more than he was used to, considering she was the only real person he's spoken to in the last two years. "I wouldn't worry about any mobs trying to hurt us though, I looked into it and as long as we stay away from the deeper parts of the field, like the small forests or the big empty plains, we should be good. However I'm sure the items are more likely to be found up there..." He started rambling, it had been so long since he was in an unscripted conversation that he forgot people could react to everything he said even if they hadn't thought of it before.

He looked at the ground in a sort of cliché way before solemnly letting his apology slip out and fall unheard unless she was listening closely. "Sorry..." His old friends often told him he spoke too much, that his incessant rambling was a bad habit. He had let those words get to him once again and would retreat further into his little world further, now following her if she would take the lead from him.

As they walked, he looked around, reading the signs to himself and making mental notes of all the shops he might have to use later in his Aincrad career.

As they stepped out of the safe zone, Ayota knelt down and started rummaging through the grass. He wasn't expecting to find anything, rather he wanted to see just how far outside of the safe zone they had to be before he could possibly find a material. His answer came sooner than expected however, as he say a small plant, every defining detail matching that of the description given to him by the old man running the shop. Ayota smiled and pulled the plant out of the ground and looked back towards the safe zone. "Guess they went for true RNG on this looting system." He says, looking back at the short path to the city.

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ID: 144282

LD: 20 (Success)

1/5 Materials found

@Shye

Edited April 25, 2020 by Nines

[Shye 0]

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

Edited April 25, 2020 by Shye

[Nines 0]

They were both one into the quest and still slowly making their way out into the field. The boy would simply glance down every now and again while she searched, but would come up with nothing, like he'd guessed it's all about odds and numbers and percentages. He was sure there would be an easy way to find this stuff if he could get his hands on some info brokers. His eyes still scanned the area and he saw nothing. Lady Luck was never one to flirt with the boy, in fact all she ever did was humiliate him. That's why he liked puzzle games and competitive games. He could make his own luck.

Still though, in all games, Luck would be a part of the idea, whether it be placed with good teammates, or drawing the right hand or having the maze pieces fall in a certain order. He always found a way around the luck, and would just power on through to try and get the best score possible. This quest was no different. "Even if we don't need it, it would still be nice. Like I said, it's all RNG. It's like pulling a card out of a deck and trying to get a queen of spades. The wider the search parameters, the easier it is to succeed." He explained. This time, he hadn't felt like he'd overstepped, he just kept moving like he wasn't analyzing the game with a complete stranger in the most dangerous place he's literally ever been in his life.

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ID: 144310

LD: 10 (fail)

1/5 materials found

@Shye

Edited April 25, 2020 by Nines

[Shye 0]

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

Edited April 25, 2020 by Shye

[Nines 0]

His eyes fell to the ground again, dancing over the grass as his finger twirl through the air following suit. His index finger catches yet another flower, growing around a rock in a beautiful embrace. He would simply pluck the head of the flower before looking up at the girl. "My username is Nines, but you can call me Yuki if you want." Honestly anything would be better than nothing, so this was an improvement no matter what. He would make eye contact with her if only for a moment before turning away and trying to think up a conversation they could have. He felt like explaining RNG more would just sound condescending and he didn't want that. "Which would you prefer I call you? Shye or Chelsea?" He would ask, diverting his own attention away from the ground once more to check the path ahead of them.

As they continued to walk down the beaten path, Nines would watch around them, keeping a sharp eye out for any monsters that felt like crossing their path or just getting in their way.

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ID: 144348

LD: 15

2/5 materials found

@Shye

Edited April 25, 2020 by Nines

[Shye 0]

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

Edited April 25, 2020 by Shye

[Nines 0]

The day was getting long as the boy scanned the ground yet again and came up empty handed. He knew it wasn't gonna be a five for five deal, but he's already failed half of his searches and the day has just started. He'd heard stories of people taking multiple days to complete this quest and he'd be damned if he was gonna be one of those stories.

Her statement made his cheeks turn a bright pink for a moment. "It's unisex, though more commonly a girls name. I go by Yuki because it's short for Yukine." He looked at the ground thinking back to his old friend from the real world, the one he played the most games with and the one who hurt the worst when she walked away. "My old friend, she refused to call me anything but Yuki, so I stuck with it." He explains.

After that explanation was out of the way, the boy would sit down and start fiddling with on of the flowers he picked. It was time for the other explanation. "RNG, Random Numbers Generator. It's exactly what it sounds like. Imagine you're in a room with everyone in Aincrad, you look over the crowd and try to find me, but all you can see is the hair colors of the people, let's say 800 people have white hair and are of a similar height to me, you pick them at random and Pull them up to see if it's me. The only problem is after you pick we all scramble, and while the odds are very low you could pick me everytime or not even once." His explanation was long and complicated but he was describing it as best he could. "A .125% chance isn't good, but the odds of finding me five times in a row with no fails are even worse."

He was sure she could follow his explanation even if at some points not even he could keep up.

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ID: 144425

LD: 4

2/5 materials found

@Shye

Edited April 25, 2020 by Nines

[Shye 0]

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

Edited April 26, 2020 by Shye

[Nines 0]

The young boy felt like he was over explaining it, but she didn't seem to mind. He was confused for a moment, As no one would usually listen to him ramble on and on about something. He was grateful, and he wanted to show it. He had decided if he could find an herb it would be hers, but his eyes landed on nothing of the sort. Just regular grass and a few pebbles.

Her comments on his name also made him nod. "We don't talk anymore, the name has just become a habit I'd rather not fall out of." He would smile at the idea. Nines was a name his friends all called him. The story was a funny one but also one for later. He would stand up, nodding his head away from the city. "Maybe we should head out a little further. I'm fine here but we might've picked this place to the bone." It was still an RNG situation, but maybe the odds were better further away from the safe zone.

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ID: 144580

LD: 10

2/5 materials found

@Shye

Edited April 26, 2020 by Nines

[Shye 0]

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

Edited April 27, 2020 by Shye

[Nines 0]

Ayota watched ahead as he pressed onward totally oblivious to the girl approaching him until she was in the corner of his eye. He turned his focus over to her for a moment his face turning a pale pink, before his focus shot back down to the ground beneath him. He hid his face as he looked around for another material, which he wasn't sure if it hindered his ability or not, but he'd rather miss a material and spend more time doing something rather than sitting around staring at the sky.

"So... What do you like to do for fun?" The boy was dense but he could see she was worried, maybe a little idle conversation would relieve the tension. If nothing else it would put him at ease which might put her at ease. He wasn't any better off, but he was able to push through his shy nature if he felt like the other person was equally or more shy. She looked anxious and the boy could practically feel that negative energy radiating off of her. "I wouldn't really worry about it, we should be safe right now." He smiled at her bright and sincere. "Besides I trust you to heal me, so just trust me to fight off the monsters and we'll be okay."

He would place his hand on the pommel of his sword trying to make her feel better, his face still a tad bit red.

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ID: 144874

LD: 4

2/5 materials found

@Shye

Edited April 27, 2020 by Nines

[Shye 0]

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!

Edited April 27, 2020 by Shye

[Nines 0]

Ayota had forgotten that the usual response to his question was followed by a return. He always hated it. Now he had to think of what he truly liked. "Not much really, other than singing." People often liked asking him to sing after he said that, but he hated being forced to sing for them. "I guess it's my way of showing the world who I am." He smiles fondly at the ground, quickly glancing around for another material when his eyes lock on another flower. Guess I was right. He would reach down and pluck the head from the stem, and it would transfer into his inventory.

He looks back at her with a soft smile. "I guess singing for me is like getting dressed for most other people. There are sometimes when we don't try but still shine above the rest, and other times we try our hardest but can't turn heads like we want to. It's all about the feeling we put into it, and the sincerity of that emotion." He says, rambling like he usually does. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling again."

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ID: 145259

LD: 12 (SUCCESS FINALLY)

3/5 Materials found

@Shye

Edited April 30, 2020 by Nines

[Shye 0]

Singing? Well, he's got her there, Chelsea can't sing better than a dying elephant. She wondered if he would sing something for her, but she remember how incredibly timid the boy was, even compared to her. He would probably refuse to if she did ask, maybe later when they get to be better friends, if they even talk more than this.

When he compared singing to getting dressed, she thought it was a bit of a weird analogy, but as he continued to explain, she could see what he meant by it. Quiet keen with that explanation. "I- Yeah, that actually makes sense. I mean I can relate to the getting dressed up kind of thing but not really the singing part. Well said though." The girl returned his smile with her own and decided to help him look around for more materials. He only needed a few more, so hopefully they would find something soon.

@Nines

[Nines 0]

Ayota was getting annoyed with the whole RNG system this game was going for. He always hated these sections in games, but to give you one in the tutorial was just cruel. Yeah, this wasn’t required, but he still wanted the bonuses.

As he walked further into the field, the boy stared at the ground hoping to see something. They’d all snuck right past him, and he was left empty handed once again. “Now I remember why I haven’t done any of the tutorial quests.” He explains, looking at the dirt trying to hide his annoyed state. “I’ve always hated RNG, but I figured this time it would be easier to deal with.” He kicks the dirt, prompting Cardinal to throw up that god forsaken purple sign.

”IMMORTAL OBJECT”

Those words annoyed Nines. So many people have died, and yet we can’t destroy a simple rock. It was hell. Being trapped in a world where nothing breaks except gear you need to survive, and food, and monsters respawn but the players actually die. It was messed up to say the least.

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ID:166628

LD: 7 (Fail)

3/5 materials found

@Shye

Edited August 29, 2020 by Nines