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Post by Ageha on Feb 23, 2013 9:19:43 GMT
How did this happen? It was a normal day in Antiva Chronus Online. Refa was now resting at Delta Plains. She has been grinding levels there all morning, so she decided to take a rest for a while. Weather was wonderful, sun was shining, birds singing and gentle breeze was combing Refa's hair. She took deep breath and smiled. It was good to be away from her home, from her parents who would never be home. But when they were home, they either argued with each other or told the girl that she needs to study even harder, although Refa had top grades in all subjects. At some point, her parents even wanted to take Antiva Chronus Online away, because she was playing it too much. Refa tried to pursue them by telling them that she will study even harder however they wouldn't agree. Then Refa's father Richard said that he would be allow her to continue playing the game if she would marry a man he would choose for her. Girl had no choice but to agree since she always knew that she would have an arranged marriage. Apparently, the guy was 3 years older then her and came from elite family, however that's all her parents would tell Refa about him. Red-haired girl decided not to think about it, because it will still be years before the marriage. After all she needed to finish school and collage first. Suddenly something strange happened. All Refa's equipped disappeared and was replaced by beginner's gear. In shock girl instantly slid her hand to open player menu and check her inventory. All it had was 4 potions and top of that all her skills were gone and her level was reduced to one. " What the hell is happening?!" Refa thought and wanted to send error report to Game Master, when suddenly she was teleported to Novus City Square. She saw thousands of players around her and more were being teleported to square at each second. The noise was amazing. Everyone was yelling, shouting and complaining how their items had disappeared. Refa thought that her ears would burst from all the noise around her. Suddenly the sky became red and giant "Warning" message appeared high above players heads. Then a dark hole formed below the message changing its shape until it finally became something like a giant cape with a ghost inside. However everyone knew this person to be the Game Master - Kawakami Yoshihiro. He announced that he had trapped 100,000 players inside Antiva Chronus Online and that nobody will get out until the final 1000th boss is defeated. On top of that, if player dies in the game, Insitus Gear will destroy his/her brain in real world. As the sky cleared and Game Master disappeared, slowly wave of panic hit the Novus City Square. Players were crying, yelling, cursing and doing all sorts of other things. However it was useless. Refa opened menu and saw that "Log out" button was gone. All girl could say was: " How did I get caught in this mess?"
OCC: Since everyone here is new, I'm going to start off the roleplay. Those who wish can go along Refa's story, but those who don't can create their own topic and go a different path. It doesn't matter what you choose, I just wish that you all have a good time here!
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Post by Ageha on Feb 26, 2013 16:13:27 GMT
The crowd started to move, shouting and screaming their complains. Refa, who was rather small in size, got pushed around from one side to another, occasionally getting stepped on, thus reducing her health by a bit.
"Excuse me... could you.. Ouch... move... please," red-haired girl tried to move people around her aside, however nobody would listen. Instead someone (Refa wasn't sure if it was on purpose or not) painfully hit Refa with an elbow thus reducing more of her health.
"Dammit, if this keeps up the crowd will simply stomp me to death," she thought to herself still trying to get the crowd around her to calm down. However no matter how loud girl yelled nobody would hear her. Obviously everyone were in complete panic, worrying about their survival and return to the real world instead of thinking with their heads.
"You don't give me any choice," Refa whispered and drew out her only weapon - <<Beginner's Knife>>. "MOVE or I will attack anyone in my path!" She yelled loudly while waving knife around for everyone to see. Quickly the crowd backed away from her, fearing of getting damaged. Seeing that her plan had worked Refa quickly started running through the crowd with knife in her hand. Players seeing her "attack" instantly moved out of the way granting girl easy path out of the crowd. Soon she managed to successfully reach the edge of it without any more damage.
Then without wasting any more time red-head opened Terra map to see which town would be the best to travel to. At first Dulre seemed like the perfect spot because it was right next to the Great Sweet Sea (which was actually a lake), because it would have plenty of food supplies. However then Refa noticed Silva. It would be harder to get to it, because the monsters on the way there are at higher level. However there were some great quests at Silva and stronger monsters which meant bigger chance to level up fast.
"It's decided, I'm going to Silva!" Refa exclaimed to herself and headed right out of the noisy Nova City determined that she will survive this game and get back into real world.
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Toxy
Beginner
Text Color: #d4ddae
Posts: 13
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Post by Toxy on Feb 27, 2013 17:37:18 GMT
Things were heating up for Toxic, or Toxy as he was now usually called. For nearly an hour he had been running around Inferna being generally annoying to any monster he encountered in an attempt to round them up. This involved tactically pelting them with rocks until they got angry enough to chase him then making a quick escape to the next monster without ever letting the previous ones lose sight of him. Sometimes, one would lose interest and he'd have to go back and annoy it again. Finally, his work had paid off and he was surrounded.
Toxy took a fighting stance, ready to attack the first monster to lunge. He held his twin blades loosely but firmly in his hands, flicking his yellow-green gaze from one monster to the other. Now which would attack first?
A monster to the left attacked first, and Toxy parried the blow. He slashed at its face, going for the eyes. It roared and staggered back, blinded. More of the monsters tried to attack, and Toxy blocked or dodged each of their blows, landing a strike on them for each of their attempts. His dodging lead him below one of the largest monsters. It growled and raised its fist to smash him.
Suddenly, Toxy's weapons disappeared, replaced by a Beginner's Knife and Shield. His clothing was replaced by Beginner's clothing as well. He choked on the hot air. Caught off guard by the sudden change, Toxy had no time to dodge and brought his shield up to protect him, hoping his body could take the blow.
The next thing he knew, he was in Novus City Square. He gasped, the air sharp and cold compared to Inferna, his heart racing from the shock. He looked around, seeing more and more people teleported in with varying degrees of shock obvious on their faces, but quickly growing aggressive. People were shouting about a number of things. The noise was like a roar; nothing coherent coming through to his ears.
Toxy rubbed his neck, suddenly feeling exposed without the familiar strip of material wrapped around it. He flicked his wrist, opening the player menu. Level 1. No skills. Low stats. Basic equipment. No items except for three health and a mana potion. If that last blow had connected, he would have instantly died. But why?
Before he could think too much into the situation, a warning message flashed over their heads, followed by the Game Master himself making his appearance to give his message.
For several moments, Toxy stood in complete silence. As the Game Master's words sunk in, his mind began racing but he forced himself to stay calm. He opened the menu again, but the Log Out button was not to be found. They were really trapped. And in order to get out, they had to defeat all 1000 bosses. That would take months... days, weeks even in the real world. How many people here could be reliable in this quest? Or would he have to start from scratch and brave it alone to get back to the real world? And in the real world, he was comatose while his mind was here. But how could the Game Master get away with something like this? It was terrorism! People were going to die, there was no question about that.
Toxy glanced down at his left hand, seeking solace, but his eyes widening when he realized his ring was gone. He should have realized -- all his items were gone -- but never did he think he would lose his ring. His eyes narrowed as tears threatened to form, it not taking long for one to fall onto his bare hand. He ducked his head and turned, making his way through the quickly panicking crowd to the edges of the group. He tried to justify leaving to himself by telling himself it was getting dangerous, people were already getting more anxious, shoving and screaming, but it did little to cover up that he knew he was about to cry.
He ducked into an empty alleyway, just as the tears started. He covered his eyes with his hand. "Michael," he whimpered softly. The ring wasn't the one he had been given of course. The real one was still safely on his finger back in the real world, but to see it gone, even the fake one, hit him hard.
"It's decided, I'm going to Silva!"
Toxy wiped the tears from his eyes and looked around, hearing the voice. Faintly. The crowd a short distance away was still loud, but the voice was closer, actually distinguishable from the panic. Toxy took a deep breath then stepped from the alleyway, looking around.
Almost immediately, he noticed the source: a young looking woman with long red hair, quickly making her way out the city. Toxy blinked, swearing he recognized her.
He dashed after her, catching up to her at the edge of the city. To think he'd be this slow! Even with these heavy boots. He really was back to Level 1.
"Hey, wait!" he called out, slowing once he'd caught up beside her. "I heard you say you were going to Silva? Care to have a partner? You're... Refa, aren't you?"
OOC: Hope you don't mind me dropping in?
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Post by Ageha on Feb 27, 2013 18:11:57 GMT
Suddenly Refa heard young man calling out to her: "Hey, wait!" Red-head turned around and saw young man, maybe bit older than herself. "I heard you say you were going to Silva? Care to have a partner? You're... Refa, aren't you?"
"Yes, indeed my name is Refa. And sure, I don't mind if you tag along," she said and showed a little smile. However it soon turned bitter. It was hard to accept that she was now trapped inside game that she loved so much. Antiva Chronus Online was like a place where Refa could save herself from worries of real life, like for example her arranged marriage. Yet now she was like rat in cage with little or maybe even no chance of escape. Kawakami Yoshihiro was now manipulating all the player's to his liking. Actually if he wanted he could kill Refa right now. But why even make such a game? What is his purpose? Obviously it's not to kill all player's, because then he would have done it already. Then what was it?
"May I ask how do you know me and what's your name?" Red-haired girl asked the boy after awakening from her thoughts. He too had only beginner's gear and obviously he was no higher level than Refa or others. Usually she wouldn't agree to travel together with someone however now this game had turned serious. She couldn't be reckless like she used to be, because if she dies in the game, it's game over for real. But with someone by her side it was bigger chance to survive for both of them.
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Toxy
Beginner
Text Color: #d4ddae
Posts: 13
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Post by Toxy on Feb 27, 2013 18:59:01 GMT
Toxy ducked his head politely as he was accepted then glanced at Refa. To think she could smile, even briefly, at a time like this. But he could tell she was taking this seriously. He looked back in the direction of the crowd, still able to hear the uproar. How long would it last? How many people would be injured or killed just from that? He sighed. 100,000 players. If they all worked together, they could quickly get out. But he knew things would not work like that.
Refa's voice brought Toxy's attention back to her. He nodded. "I'm called Toxy. IGN is Toxic. I kept tabs on all the best players; call it a competitive habit," he explained. "You were pretty impressive, if the rumors are true. They say you beat several bosses on your own." He paused, staring out at the scenery in front of him. After his first few days in ACO, he never really thought about how realistic everything seemed. Now even the punishment of death was real. "If you got that far the first time, you can probably do it again... I have no intentions of staying trapped here."
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Post by Ageha on Feb 27, 2013 19:31:36 GMT
"I guess I can do it again, but this time we need to be careful because if run head on fighting bosses without thinking of strategy first, we're going to die," Refa explained and slowly started walking towards Silva. Normally it would take around an hour and a half to get to Silva on foot, however since they will fight monsters on the way there, it might take whole day.
"We better hurry, we have lots of grinding in store for us today," red-head said and started jogging so Toxy could easily catch up. Already few meters outside of Nova first monsters started to appear. Luckily they were just weak <<Rats>> and <<Weasels>> however it was bit hard killing them with a knife. Refa was used to fighting with swords and this little knife was rather uncomfortable. However soon she managed to adjust herself and started killing of all little monsters in her way, also gaining some items. It was quite efficient way of training. Just slowly moving towards your destination while killing every monster in your path. By doing that both Toxy and Refa should reach at least level 5 when they arrive at Silva.
After little time of fighting weak monsters, <<Wild Boars>> started to appear. They were much harder to kill with the tiny knife, because girl had to get quite close to them in order to make some damage. And getting close to boar without losing health wasn't exactly an easy task, since they were rather fast creatures. Luckily they dropped some health potions so Refa could restore her health if it go too low.
"Are you doing fine?" Refa asked her new companion to make sure that he was following her safely.
OOC: Updated inventory for Refa.
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Toxy
Beginner
Text Color: #d4ddae
Posts: 13
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Post by Toxy on Feb 28, 2013 18:06:54 GMT
Toxy followed close after Refa, attacking anything she didn't attack first. Often he would go out a few meters away from her so they wouldn't be sharing so many targets and thus experience points. They needed to level up as fast as possible, and sticking together on monsters they could easily kill on their own would only stagger that process. Toxy made a point to target <<Weasels>> as much as possible. Not only did they grant more experience, but the <<Soft Pieces of Fur>> they dropped may prove useful for some slightly better and more protective clothing early on. Normally, he'd care about clogging up his inventory with every item he found, but at this point anything was useful. He no longer had a comfortable supply of currency or equipment to justify ignoring items.
Trying to target more <<Weasels>> sometimes caused Toxy to stray more from Refa especially since he didn't leave <<Rats>> behind either, but he always kept an eye on her to make sure he didn't get too far behind. However he found himself making easier progress than Refa. Having always favored smaller, quicker weapons, he adjusted well to using the <<Beginner's Knife>>. At first, the shield put him off balance and was awkward, but he quickly grew used to it. He even tried using the shield as a blunt weapon once, but it threw him horribly off balance and he was almost bitten by a very angry <<Rat>>. Thankfully, the weight to his boots gave him a really good kick and he was able to avoid damage.
As <<Wild Boars>> started appearing, Toxy found it easier to use his shield. He could brace himself and use the shield to absorb most of the impact damage, and then stab the boar in the face while it was close. If he took too much damage, he had potions to heal, but he needed to use them sparingly. He also found it easier to strike them with the shield, the weight in this case making them good for a heavy downward strike.
Toxy looked up when he heard Refa's voice. "Perfectly," he replied, rubbing his shoulder. Although his right arm might end up sore under the weight of the shield. He'd probably have to switch his knife and shield hands day by day until he adjusted to its weight. "You?"
OOC: Will update Toxy's inventory later tonight.
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Post by Ageha on Feb 28, 2013 18:43:56 GMT
"Yeah, I'm fine. I can't get used to this knife and stupid shield, but I guess I'll be throwing these out soon enough anyway," Refa answered. Although shields were often used by players, Refa could never get used to it. She felt better if her left arm was free and she could easily maneuver with it or use another item if needed.
"Let's keep going like this until Silva," with that note red head continued to slash <<Wild Boar's>> here and there easily gaining more EXP so soon she had reached level 4 already. But as Refa and Toxy progressed towards Silva new monster - <<Wolf>> had appeared. This opponent was definitely stronger than <<Willd Boar>> since it was much more agile than boar and also had higher attack.
At this moment Refa was grateful she had this shield, because it was only thing between her, <<Wolf's>> teeth and <<Bleeding>> status. But shield was also bad because it more focused on increasing Refa's defense rather than agility and she was the type to strike fast and powerfully. Without any stopping girl continued killing one wolf after another, but as she leveled up to level 6, she saw that now her defense had gotten higher than other stats. In Antiva Chronus Online the beginning of increasing stats was really important because they would tend to increase the stat player increased intently at beginning more than other stats. It meant if Refa continues to increase her defense stat, all her "Strike powerful, kill fast" would simply fail because of high defense.
"This god damn shield is ruining everything! I don't need high defense, I need high speed!" Angrily said Refa and without thinking threw the shield towards near by <<Wolf>>, thus breaking both the wolf and the shield. Only after a second girl realized she had made a mistake, but she quickly shook it off. After all if Refa would ran all the time, her agility would increase and then <<Wolves>> wouldn't be a problem. Only problem was that she hated running.
"Oh well, I'll have to run around for a bit," girl said, smiled and scratched her head awkwardly.
OOC: Updated Refa's inventory again.
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Post by Ageha on Mar 2, 2013 8:31:06 GMT
After fighting <<Wolves>> for a good while, red-head realized that throwing the shield out was actually a good idea. Refa needed to dodge and outrun <<Wolves>> and it really helped to increase her speed and agility a bunch. After one more hour of fighting (with occasional short breaks) Refa found herself to be moving faster.
Refa was so caught up with fighting and powering-up that she didn't even notice that Silva could already be seen from afar. "Look, Toxy! We're almost there and just in time, sun is already starting to set," Refa said and started running towards the city. However something made red-head bit worried. It is said that way to Silva was filled with strong monsters, however ones she had met so far weren't all that strong. It was bit weird.
Soon Refa could clearly see the city borders however there seemed to be a dark shadow in front of city gates. It was too far away for girl to tell what it was, however one thing was for sure. It wasn't anything good. And then it hit her. It wasn't the way to Silva that was dangerous. It was the entrance to Silva itself that was dangerous. Most likely it was a field boss, that was guarding the entrance, ready to fight any foolish traveler who dares to cross its path.
Red-head however wasn't too worried. As she got closer she saw that the field boss was <<Three-Eyed Wolf>>. She had fought this monster before, only last time she had died two times before she managed to beat it. This time it was different. She wasn't alone and she already knew its fighting pattern.
"Toxy, we'll have to work together to defeat that monster. He is rather speedy, so we'll have to finish this fast. I can't charge at him head on, because I don't have shield anymore, you'll have to distract him first before I attack," girl said and pointed towards <<Three-Eyed Wolf>> who was already glaring at two travelers from afar. Once they would go closer he will surely attack.
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Post by Ageha on Mar 12, 2013 19:15:13 GMT
Without looking if Toxy was around or not, Refa charged right in for the <<Three-Eyed Wolf>>. Beast was caught off guard thus red head managed to inflict quite a damage on it, however it recovered rather quickly.
"Toxy, switch!" Refa called only to find out that guy was nowhere to be found. She didn't even manage to blink her eyes when giant had already tackled her with full force. Refa was thrown away few meters, losing at least 1/4th of her health.
"Dammit!" Refa cursed and quickly got up and started running around to avoid the beast. She would have never expected for boy to leave her so suddenly, so it would be a problem to defeat this field boss. It was really hard to get close to <<Three-Eyed Wolf>>, so mostly it was just the two running around in circles, avoiding each other, and occasionally girl would managed to inflict a tiny bit of damage on wolf. But Refa couldn't keep it up for long, she was running out of energy and monster's health hasn't even dropped below half. Not to mention that knife required for girl to get dangerously close to <<Three-Eyed Wolf>> and it barely inflicted any damage on it.
Suddenly as Refa was about on try to hit wolf again, it turned and bit girls arm painfully thus inflicting <<Bleeding>> status on her. Out on pure shock she kicked the wolf in stomach and retreated. Luckily there was a tree growing near by so red head climbed before <<Three-Eyed Wolf>> managed to recover from her hit.
"How the hell am I suppose to win this?" Refa said as she slowly watched her health bar deplete.
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