ROYAL ROAD: The Adventures of Four

[InkompleteWish]

Vita only watched this exchange with guarded eyes. Hyuki should have told them from the beginning but the other probably had a reason to lie. Nonetheless, the sage hated liars and though he accepted it that Hyuki would leave the party, he still wasn't happy with him lying. He had a bit of trust issues now, maybe the other still kept something from them? It was never good to be left in the dark; things would turn ugly pretty fast. Vita already had so many situations in the past, mafia wasn't easy and everywhere were liars walking around. But trust was the most protected thing in that world and Vita was really keen on keeping that up. White lies might be okay in the right situations but something as big as this right now wasn't good. It will affect their whole game play.

 

"Yes, let's bring the girl back and search for a new member. The sooner we get this done the faster we can continue to play. This was only the first quest after all..." he said and turned around to walk back to the town. "…only that it felt like a dungeon boss battle." he muttered under his breath and tracked forward. Vita didn't want to stay in the area any longer, in fear that something might happen again. Though they had a GM with them right now, Hyuki would probably not fight with them. There's no point in dwelling on this conversation any longer at least in his opinion. What's done is done, all of them have this virus now and to help the technical team in clearing it. It's not like the can create a new character or anything. So the have to live with it for now, hopefully it will be fixed soon. Though he didn't want to leave this party, it was uncomfortable to have the game masters sticking to you're back like this.

[Tetsu]

That's unfair."..."Besides, it doesn't make sense. If the virus already spread, how do we keep it in us three? Or... Did the virus begin with us...? I don't get it."..."It's unfair for us like this. The developers should pay more attention..."

 

Hyuki couldn't come up with something. He told everyone the information he was allowed to share them. Furthermore would be breaking the rule of privacy. The half lynx stayed silent, staring at the other as a faint smile formed over his lips.

 

"I'm very sorry. That's all I know. The technical team is trying their best to figure everything out. For now, I can only apologize in behalf of the game staff and provide you all support"

 

Truth was, there had been a few information the team had collected. But such confidential information couldn't just be shared with the players. It would be best to keep those information hidden in the dark. They would tell them, should situation needed them to.

 

-

 

"A perty has to have four members, right? Uh... Well, until we find one, maybe Hyuki can stay with us? Just for a while. Maybe we'll find someone in the town."..."Guys, um..."... "Anyway, we gotta get back and give the girl back."

Havoc turned to the healer, thinking about what the other had just said. It's true they needed four player for the quest, and lacking one of the member who did the quest may cause trouble in retrieving their reward. They needed to head back to the quest giver as the sun was already setting. It would be trouble if the guild closes up since they would need to take custody of the girl until the guild opens up again. Otherwise they would need to repeat the whole damn quest again.

 

"Yeah. Hyuki should stay with us until we receive the reward. We better hurry back. We need to find a replacement before we accept the next quest"

"Yes, let's bring the girl back and search for a new member. The sooner we get this done the faster we can continue to play. This was only the first quest after all..."

 

Vita seemed to agree as well. Turning to the GM, they received half lynx's approval with a faint smile on the human-lynx's lips. Walking all day way to the [beginner's Guild] proved to be tiring. As Havoc was a beginner to the game, he has low endurance. He only had the basic equipments with him which gave little to none boost. Even with the boost he received by leveling up, that wasn't enough to keep Havoc from getting tired.

"We finally arrived. Any longer I'd have a status over my head"

 

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Jimahe huffed softly, a small bit of annoyance showing itself in his eyes. Hyuki was lying; in his opinion, at least. The green-haired male didn't mention it, however, feeling it was about time to finish up the useless argument. He didn't want to get into a fight with his new party members. That would be even worse than the current situation. Sure, maybe he did stay quiet too often, but it couldn't be helped, right? That was just who he was, just how he was. He couldn't just change it, not even in a game.

 

Jimahe managed to hear the quiet murmur following Vita's words, yet didn't comment on that either. He did give him a small 'We'll deal with this somehow' glance before taking the girl's hand with a sweet smile on his face. "Come on then, we should go." He said more to her than to others and began walking. At some point he ended up carrying the girl in his arms as she fell asleep - kind of cute, to be honest.

 

When their party finallo got back to town, he lightly poked the girl's side to wake her and let her down. "I swear, we should probably train a bit before taking any more quests. I don't feel like being defeated by an angry pack of mutant wolves." The healer mumbled and began walking towards the guild to which the girl had already run off to.

 

"Guys, I think I'll have to leave in a bit. Once we find the last party member, I'm gonna be out." He informed the others with a warm smile on his face. He couldn't stay in here forever, after all. That would be nonsense and impossible. He hoped that none of them would actually mind it...

[InkompleteWish]

Their track back to the guild was completed in complete silence. Nobody dared to start a conversation and frankly no one bothered too. In fact, Vita appreciated the silence. After their battle everyone was probably tired and Havoc's words proved his point. The dark elf didn't particularly felt tired but his character screen also showed that his 'Tiredness level' rose up a few steps. During their travel, the little girl started to get sleepy and Jimahe offered his arms to her. Obviously the little girl accepted and soon enough the healer was stuck with carrying her all the way. Though she probably didn't weight much, she was probably still heavy after some time. The healer woke her up soon enough however and the little girl ran ahead, waving and laughing towards them. //She just slept and is already so energized, probably because she is an NPC...// he thought and continued his way, following the little girl to the guild.

 

"Yes, training would be in order I guess. But first of all we have to find a member to join our party. If we train with our last member then we might get to know him or her better." the dark elf suggested and ran his fingers through his blond hair. Today was pretty exhausting. The healer of the group soon reminded him of the time and he also checked it. Indeed, it was already close to dinner time. "True enough, dinner will be soon. So let's find our last member before that." he spoke and checked his tabs again. Vita hated if something wasn't properly organized. He checked his skills, his character points and his inventory again to make sure everything was fitting to his taste. It was a little annoying habit of his. If he had to take any job in their group it would be the keeping an eye over their treasury and maybe even some accountancy.

[Tetsu]

"That's a very good idea. Let's train before we take on any other quest. I agree we should find the replacement first... although, Hyuki said he'd make sure that he'll make sure someone will be willing?"

The gray haired warrior said, agreeing to everyone's suggestions as he pondered over what the half lynx meant by his words. Turning his head back, he looked at the GM who flinched in surprise and guilt.

"Umm... well, I was thinking that while we go looking for the replacement, I'll offer all the experience I received and the items I have to the person so that all of you would be on the same level... or something? hahaha..."

The offer would be very tempting, knowing that any noob would want to save the trouble of grinding. However, that would only be possible if someone out there is willing to join them up even knowing of the virus that had affected them.

"That's a good offer. But, we will tell the person everything we know of. I don't want to hide anything and drag the member into the mess for our own interest. Anyway, lets head to the guild master"

The guild door creaked open as a party of four entered. The sun has almost set and [beginner's Guild] was filled with low leveled users, drinking and partying with each other. The loud sound had made the ashen haired narcissist narrow his sight, feeling uncomfortable with the scenery before how . Shrugging with helplesness, Havoc move forward to meet with the guild master.

 

"Ohh.. it's you guys. Did you find my daughter?"

*Trringg*

 

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 400, align: center]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]A quest requested by [beginner's Guild] guild master has been completed. Do you want to inform the guild master?

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center] Say [Yes] or [No]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

"Yes"

 

"Ohh~ thank you! thank you! Here's A reward for you all!"

 

*Trringg*

 

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 400, align: center]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]You have gained [250 exp], [beginner's modified equipment set], [500 copper], and [$null!]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]For finishing a quest, your status will be raised to [Normal] to [best], [MP] and [HP] will be replenished

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 400, align: center]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]You are now Level 6! You can upgrade your skills and unlock new skills in the skills window! You have 18 undistributed points in the Status window!

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Havoc's eyes narrowed at the sight of the pop up window, seeing how the rewards they should be receiving changed. Not that it was something bad, since the rewards were actually better than what they should be receiving. Being level 6, and not distributing the points he had, Havoc thought of distributing them when they start training since he would know by then just what he would need the most.

 

"Hyuki, what is this [$null!]?"

The ashen haired male asked, not knowing what the item meant. He, however, vaguely guessed that all the changes and the strange item were due to the effect of the virus.

"Umm... it's because of the virus... I don't know what that item is. The technical team will have to check it out. Please don't open or extract the item... that would be very dangerous"

The GM explained, truthfully speaking of how he didn't know of the change. The virus was the most probable reason, and the item [$null!] was something he needed to report to the higher ups. Havoc would have to talk with the rest what to do with the items they received. But that can wait for later, all the problems are tiring Havoc, for once he wanted to enjoy and socialize.

 

"We're done here. Where should we go now? Wanna rest up and party or something?"

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Jimahe pursed his lips into a blaming frown when Hyuki flinched - in what seemed to be guilt. He seemed like such a nice guy before, yet now he didn't quite feel like he could be trusted. Perhaps it was because of the damn virus... "That sounds fair." He added quietly and looked away, only nodding when they said they should go and get their reward. He should really go soon, he was pretty sure he'd be feeling quite hungry in a bit...

 

The green-haired male was clearly uncomfortable in the new atmosphere. He shuffled closer to Vita, small flinches running through his body at the loud sounds and partying players. Jimahe seemed to be trying to make himself appear smaller, somehow, as he drew his arms around himself, frowning. He just hoped no one would mistake him for a girl... He did choose the neutral gender.

 

He was shaken out of his thoughts by the already well-known sound.

 

*Triiing*

 

While he was thinking, Havoc said yes to informing the guild master and they received their reward.

 

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 400, align: center]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]You have gained [250 exp], [beginner's modified equipment set], [500 copper], and [$null!]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]For finishing a quest, your status will be raised from [Normal] to [best], [MP] and [HP] will be replenished

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 400, align: center]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]You are now Level 6! You can upgrade your skills and unlock new skills in the skills window! You have 18 undistributed points in the Status window!

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

Jimahe's eyes fixated on the [$null] item and he was about to click it, yet he managed to stop just before Hyuki said how it may be dangerous. "Well you should really spread these news. What if someone gets infected with the virus and opens the item? What will happen then? You should all think some more about this whole situation." Jimahe noticed he was getting snappy and looked away, biting his lip.

 

"I'd honestly like to leave. Could we leave the search for tomorrow or something? I'm tired." The green-haired male muttered out quietly, staring down at his feet.

[InkompleteWish]

(I just assumed this, since it would be a nice add on I guess. Hope its okay. :3 )

 

They soon reached the guild and Vita could see that the other players were drinking and partying instead of doing quests. That reminded him that 'Royal Road' wasn't just any game, it wasn't without a reason one of the hottest topics out there. You didn't have to just get levels, there were other things too. You could go socialize like you would in real life; you could even have hobbies here. During his travel through the town earlier, the higher levelled group that helped him had a person that joined a crafting guild and another that joined the local 'Fitness Centre'. You could even get fat here, though it was definitely harder than in real life. Royal Road was a large game, with so much content. Somehow the dark elf was already excited to see what it had to offer.

 

They stood before the guild master but didn't inform him yet, they were still discussing about their next steps. He noticed that Jimahe drew closer to him, probably because some of the other players were eyeing them with a weird look. Vita was used to drunken people and parties in general, you had to in his line of work but the healer obviously didn't like it much. So the dark elf didn't say anything and fixated on the conversation at hand. Havoc informed the guild master of the outcome of the quest and soon a familiar sound rang in his ears.

 

*Triiing*

 

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 400, align: center]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]You have gained [250 exp], [beginner's modified equipment set], [500 copper], and [$null!]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]For finishing a quest, your status will be raised from [Normal] to [best], [MP] and [HP] will be replenished

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 400, align: center]

[TR]

[TD=align: center]You are now Level 6! You can upgrade your skills and unlock new skills in the skills window! You have 18 undistributed points in the Status window!

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

That were lots of rewards, but it was nice, they had a bit of trouble after all. But that new item bothered him and he listened to Hyuki explaining. It was true, they probably shouldn't do anything with it for now but Vita couldn't help but check his inventory and changed his equipment. The new one was looking really nice; it was a dark purple coloured cloak and some new boots. He also got a new weapon. It was still a staff but it had little carvings in the wood. It was still beginner equipment so there probably wasn't too much difference to other players. After equipping said items, he organized his inventory and put the old stuff at the bottom so he could sell it later. The [$null!] was placed in a separate tab. He also looked over his status window and distributed his points. Vita rather did it now, instead of forgetting it later on.

 

The healer reminded him that they were still in a conversation so he stopped. "I don't really mind either way. We can search for a new companion or we could stop here. Dinner will be ready soon so I got some limited time to spend here, if we aren't searching for a new member today then I would look around the town for further quests and maybe good locations." he offered. It might be easier for them if they knew beforehand which quests were available so they didn't have to search later for them. The map functions allowed to set marks at chosen places so it would make things easier for them.

[EnvyPrince]

 

OFFLINE CHARACTER

 

PHOTO:

 

 

 

NAME: Leon Adler

GENDER: Male

NATIONALITY: German

ORIENTATION: Secretly gay

AGE: 20

PERSONALITY:

Leon doesn't speak much, and most of his answers consist of “yes” and “no”. This comes off as cold to anyone who aren't very close to him. However, he has no trouble in speaking with others, and can start a conversation if forced to, but in most cases, he simply doesn't like being stuck talking to someone. Leon prefers to be left alone, and he often wiles away his time reading, studying or any number of small hobbies he has.

 

Growing up with a family like his, Leon does have a few negative traits. However quiet and complacement he looks to others, Leon is confident in himself and will sometimes come off as coldly arrogant (and he is too). Like others of his social class, he will snub his nose at anyone he finds are beneath him, since most of society were painted as inferior. Leon also has qute a lot of negative opinions of a handful of members in his own social class. Leon is also very blunt and straightforward, telling others his opinion without restraint, and with little thought on the consequences. This too has come as a result of living in the environment his family had made around him.

 

LIKES:

Sweets

Birds

Archery

Video games

Winter

 

DISLIKES:

Gossip

Dogs (he was bitten by a dog when he was little)

Spicy food

Hot, sticky days

 

BIO:

Leon is the second son of a German Earl. Though he is from a very wealthy family, and of an aristocratic bloodline, Leon is still simply the second son and, therefore of lesser importance than his older brother. This truth had been prevalent throughout his young childhood. Even though his parents have not put as much stress on him, Leon had the same education as his older brother and has learned etiquette in the same manner as well (for appearance sake, of course. God forbid he act like a primitive caveman in front of guests and family friends). Aside from his education, Leon has rarely seen his parents, and so has been left to his own devices. To satiate his boredom outside of his education, Leon took to learning archery and horseback riding, and later video games.

 

Video games came into his life when a close friend of his introduced him to it. After that, he's often seeing playing all manner of games, mostly MMORPGs where he is able to enter a world without any social restrictions. However, though he has interacted with some people and even has a small list of friends, Leon has been a loner for the most part. He enjoys soloing and enjoys the adrenaline that comes when soloing the game.

 

Leon is secretly gay, and has no intention of telling his family. Mainly out of fear, Leon very well knows how his dad will react if he ever did find out, so he's kept it to himself, an easy feat considering how rare it is to see his father. His mother, on the other hand, has been wanting him to meet some daughter from whatishisname dad withwhattitle has made things a bit unbearable for Leon.

 

He currently lives by himself in Nurnberg, though he still lives on his family's wealth.

 

ONLINE CHARACTER

 

Avatar:

 

 

 

Username: Deo Volente

Level: 16

Class: Wind Rider

Weapon: Long Bow and arrows

Skills:*

 

PASSIVE:

[Eagle Eye] Slightly increases Accuracy

[Wind Walker] Increases movement speed

[shadow Step] Less likely to be targeted by enemies and aggros.

[Detection] Has increased sight, allowing him to see more enemies in a given radius.

 

ACTIVE:

[Apply Poison] For 9 seconds, the user's arrows are coated with poison. The poison deals extra damage (-2 at beginning level) for 10 seconds. Damage level increases by 4 every 5 levels.

[Wind shot] An arrow that knocks back opponents, and stuns them for 5 seconds. After effect of this attack stuns nearby opponents for 2 seconds

[Fast Shooter] Allows the user to shoot faster for 10 seconds.

[it's a Trap!] User sets up a fire trap when on ground. When activated, the trap will explode in a fiery burst, damaging foes nearby, and each opponent hit by the trap will also acquire burn damage that lasts for 7 seconds.

[Arrowstorm] User shoots upwards and rains hundreds of arrows onto targeted area. Strikes opponents in a given radius. This attack can be upgraded every 10 levels (next upgrade will have fire arrows that apply burn damage)

[Lightning Chain] Shoots an arrow imbued with electricity. This arrow will apply "weaken armor" on opponents for 4 seconds and will attack two more opponents nearby. This attack will also attract the hit opponents to the user.

 

Partner/Mount

Name: Eru

 

 

 

 

 

“You're always doing whatever you want!” The accusation had stung Deo Volente quite a bit, but his reaction had been different from what he'd felt inside. He'd shrugged. He'd even rolled his eyes at the accuser. That, of course, hadn't gone over well for the de facto leader of the party he'd been in previously, who'd once more brought up his habits. One accusation had led to another and the next thing he knew he'd dropped out of the party without a single word and had gone about his day, happily ignoring their angry retorts. Deo preferred soloing, he liked the feeling of achieving victory through his own skills, and he liked the thrill of being pushed into a corner. Call him a lone player or whathaveyou, but the fact simply remained that the Wind Rider rarely partied with others. Being in a party required cooperation of all the members, which meant constant communication. Victory and defeat balanced in a thin line of just how effective their communication was between each member as well as how well they worked together. That wasn't just it though; you also had to understand each other's skills, strengths and weaknesses, and that led to socializing. That was the problem. Deo rarely involved himself in parties, much less parties consisting of complete strangers. In games, he'd always had a handful of close friends, all of which didn't mind his near silence and abrasive personality. They also understood how he played. He in turn partied with only those handful, since they were easy to deal with.

 

He quietly slipped into the Beginner's Guild, ignoring the cheers and yells of the other players around him. It was always noisy here, and sloppy too. Mugs filled with drinks, and food stacked high on plates gave the atmosphere a homey, cozy one, and even he found the atmosphere rather nice, even if the noise was a bit bothersome.

 

Ding!

 

A chiming sound, bright and cheerful, stopped him in place.

 

 

[table=width: 250, class: outer_border, align: center]

[tr]

[td]You have 2 private messages![/td]

[/tr]

[/table]

 

 

He sighed, pulling open his PM box and glanced over the first message. Why'd he quit? Where was he now? Did they honestly want him back? Muttering under his breath, he hit the delete button for the first message then, after a cursory glance at the username, the second message went to the trash as well. Deleted and gone from his message box (thank god!), the drow continued his way through the Beginner's Guild and to an empty seat at the bar. The bartender gave him a glance, but Deo simply shook his head. At such a low level, he didn't have much gold and that meant he was going to have to save up for future armors and weapons.

 

Conversations flew left and right, some louder than others, and as many topics under the sun as one can think of. Some were looking for party members, others were asking how to get so and so weapon and armor, and even more revolved around skill sets, mounts and HP and MP potions. One such conversation had him turning in his seat and looking their way; three players (he assumed they were partied together), and looking for a fourth party member. “How long?” He caught himself asking them. One, two, three....Shit. Why'd he go and do that without first thinking? Did he want to get tied down with another party?

[Tetsu]

The ashen haired male contemplated on what to do. They were in need of a new member for sure. The four of them barely pulled completing the quest off. Of course, it is to be expected that the more quest they do, the harder it gets. And as time passes by, the virus could be attacking somewhere else. Just because the virus is confined to them doesn't mean it would stay still and wait for it to be removed. At worst case scenario, it could be replicating itself in the background, waiting for the right moment to spread itself around through some unknown medium. In any case, it would be better if they could get rid of the virus the soonest time possible.

 

"I'm as much exhausted as you guys. But the virus could on the move as we rest. At least let's do something productive before we rest. Why not search somewhere close? At least around the guild?"

 

Havoc sighed, noticing how much he actually cared. He guessed his gamer self had awoken from a dormant sleep, as much as his narcissism had actually toned down. Gaming had its own therapeutic use, in fact it may had been the best among all he had tried.

 

"Umm... you don't have to worry about that guys. Please do rest when you have to. Technically, the virus itself will come to a halt when your characters are offline. The Technical team will observe the status of your characters to make sure the virus won't do any damage to it"

 

Knowing that had at least given Havoc relief, that at least rest was guaranteed to be safe. If that was the case, then they could just rest indeed. Although, thinking deeply into it, if the virus was stuck on their character data, wiping the characters out from the database would surely remove the virus. Havoc wondered if the technical team didn't just want to delete player data or simply that method didn't work.

 

“How long?”

The Ashen haired narcissist turned his head towards the direction the voice came from, finding himself looking at a male of similar hair color. He didn't quite understand what the other had meant, but he guessed that the person was probably interested in the conversation they were having.

 

"Excuse m-me... but were you talking with us? We're in need of a party member... so were you perhaps interested in joining us?"

The warrior hesitantly said, wishing his intuition was correct,

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Jimahe frowned at Havoc, crossing his arms. "Something productive would be not spending time playing a game..." He said, even his eyes showing slight annoyance. The green-haired elf desperately needed sleep, usually at least ten hours to feel rested and not snappy. He glanced at Hyuki with grateful eyes when he heard about being able to go to rest. "Thank you." He said shortly, though his eyebrows soon scrunched up in thought. "Wait, so we are the only ones affected? If we just deleted our characters, wouldn't the virus disappear too? It doesn't have any way of spreading, after all." The man said, his lips pursed into a thin line.

 

The elf jumped slightly at the unfamiliar voice next to them, unconsciously gripping onto Vita's sleeve. He stared at the foreigner, his fingers holding the fabric tightly, yet he didn't seem to notice that. The young man was easily scared, that was always quite a problem for him - in school, he used to be teased about that a lot... But, he couldn't really help it. Jimahe couldn't just decide not to be scared.

 

His wide eyes soon turned to Havoc as he spoke, asking the new guy the question that was probably in all of their heads. Even now, his fingers clinched onto the sleeve he still didn't realize he was gripping onto. Honestly, this was what he often did when surprised - when he was little, he'd always carry around his teddy that he'd hug if he was scared... He was the most adorable child ever. Now, however, he could only grip onto his shirt.

[InkompleteWish]

Vita had enough time to stick around for a bit longer, his body didn't ask for food yet so he guessed he could postpone dinner time. It was not like anyone would be eating with him either way. The chefs of the house just made sure that he got his three meals. They were sometimes more of a caring family instead of his father. But who could he blame? His father had a 'business' to rule, he couldn't afford to spend too much time resting. So the servants were really more of a family then he was. In that sense he feared what might happen to him when he took over. The dark elf could not imagine only spending time on the mafia business. It was just to tiring. Before dying from a gun, he would probably die due to the paperwork and everything. So enjoying live now was his best bet. Ciro couldn't just walk around town like others, so he had to make do with a game it seemed.

 

Their conversation carried on and Vita couldn't suppress a sigh. Jimahe was right, as much as this was an escape from reality; it was not 'productive' in that sense. But if his character had a virus, he wanted to do everything in his power to make sure that it didn't affect his game. The blond just started playing so he would like to enjoy it a bit more. And the earlier this virus is gone, the better. They were already having restrictions concerning their party and the quest mobs. Morte never played games before this one, so he would love to experience a normal game experience but luck wasn't on his side. Not that it ever was anyway.

"I'd rather not delete my character. But I guess it doesn't lie in the character itself but in the account data right?" he said, making a wild guess. If it would be so easy to delete the character then the GM's wouldn't make such a big deal out of it. But for the account, they had to set it up with their appearance and money and whatnot. It was a larger hassle then just deleting stuff. But no matter the real reason, they were already stuck in it so they could only wait and see what the technical team comes up with.

 

Their conversation was cut short when another voice, unfamiliar in sound, made itself present. At first, Morte Vita didn't know what the other meant too but it dawned on him. Everyone else in the guild was either partying, talking about weapons or quests or, which probably fitted the most in this situation, search for a party. Before he could either ask or make a response, Havoc answered for them. So Vita decided to let the fighter talk with the player. He did notice however that Jimahe got even closer and even grabbed his sleeve when the drow spoke to them. Frankly, Vita didn't mind. He might not be used to such behavior given the family situation he grew up in but it didn't bother him. In fact he found it rather cute. So he couldn't hold his other arm back, without realizing he patted the healer on the head in a comforting gesture. His eyes didn't show due to the blindfold but he did have a small and kind smile on his face. Vita didn't know if the elf was older or younger than him but like they are now, in game, he saw the other younger. Maybe it was because of his appearance or the fact that the other was smaller than him (given the fact that Ciro wasn't a Goliath in real life, he made his character taller in game). And frankly, Vita didn’t have siblings so he wanted to see Jimahe like that. The dark elf would never voice it out loud however, afraid to anger the other.

[EnvyPrince]

The hubbub around them faded into the background, a soft murmur compared to the ruckus it had been before. For now the Guild was packed with players, most ranging in the low levels, but the vast majority of them would be leaving to either start their quests or to log off, probably to eat or do whatever they did in their real life. Deo, however, spent the majority of his time logged in. Living by himself and on his family's wealth made it easy for him to wile his time away doing whatever he wanted. For dinner, he simply ate whatever he could shove into the microwave or buy with a couple of Euros. His father would murder him, or something equally life threatening, if he ever found out the way his second son lived. The thought drew out a smile.

 

Deo, giving little concern to the elf who had latched onto the dark elf, turned his attention back to the fighter. “How long will I have to stay in your party?” Deo wasn't known for staying in a party for long; his interests often waned if he felt they weren't compatible enough. Admittedly, it was a terrible trait of his, sometimes to a point that it created friction between himself and the other players, and he supposed that had been the reason behind the recent parting with an ex-party.

 

Giving the three a once over, Deo assumed they were around the same level as he was. At least, that was the conclusion he came to based on the weapons and armor they had equipped. Most higher level players tended to lean towards the flashy and exotic (it was almost a sin for a higher level player to NOT have something exotic or legendary equipped); the weapons and armors that made other players stare or ask where they had gotten it. Having done his research prior to creating an account, Deo knew what he wanted. It was all just a matter of being patient enough to get them, and legendaries were difficult to obtain.

[Tetsu]

"Something productive would be not spending time playing a game..."Havoc could feel the slight annoyance from Jimahe, considering how the last battle tired them out all together with the revelations of the virus that had been turning their gaming experience up side down. Personally, Havoc wanted to at least recruit someone before they rest. He just couldn't simply be at ease for some reason. Maybe it was a mater of ego. Maybe not. But whatever it is, he wanted to do something about the crisis.

 

"Wait, so we are the only ones affected? If we just deleted our characters, wouldn't the virus disappear too? It doesn't have any way of spreading, after all."

 

That was one question that had crossed Havoc mind, but he opted not to voice out since it was a mere possibility and deletion of accounts may just bring more trouble. Well, not knowing anything, he eyed at Hyuki, patiently waiting for a response from him. Hyuki, seeing how he needed to answer the question, spoke up.

 

"Well, the deletion of accounts means nothing. The virus isn't part of the system making up individual characters. This virus is designed to attach itself to users and if somehow the data of the infected player is erased, it would simply detach itself and find a new host."

Hearing the answer had Havoc think in silence. Well, if that was the case, it would mean that the virus would be stuck with them for forever. He was afraid that the virus could spread from the game, to the gaming capsule and to all networks connected to the capsule. If there's a computer connected, information like password and credit cards could get stolen. He didn't want to frighten the rest of the group so in the end, Havoc pushed the thought at the back of his mind.

 

“How long will I have to stay in your party?”

It seemed they didn't have to search faraway. Someone was willing to party with them. Well, partying itself was no hard task. They could simply check out the streets and an interested newbie could be easily found. The hard part is, they need to find someone who would stay with them fully knowing the risk of getting infected with an unknown virus and the hard road they are about to take. Not beating around the bush, Havoc asked the male.

 

"There's something we have to tell you first. And it's a top secret. You decide whether you want to join or not after you hear what we are about to say. But regardless of your choice, please don't tell a soul."

 

Havoc said as he began telling their story.