Multiple Settings &nbsp; PaRaopen: Cybernet MMO [Postcyberpunk]

Spiderverse

He could get down with that, even if it meant dealing with the mage. Though he hardly considered them the weirdest team in the building, they weren't the most cohesive either. At this point the "Deviants" consisted of medieval knight, a waif-ish warrior, a techno warrior, a cat girl, and well...he honestly couldn't describe his avatar. Suffice to say, KireiNeko and Blue were the most aesthetically similar and he hated it.

Not too much on the girl who definitely spent too much online, but he couldn't shake his distaste towards her.

Higa accepted the rest of the friend requests that came his way before shrugging at Midori.

"Might as well. It's better than sitting around."

ADVENTURER'S GUILD

Spoiled Bread · Apr 24, 2023

KireiNeko
Location: Adventurer's guild

"Deviant, eh? Sounds quite rad, I like it. Reminds me of my high school days." Kirei let out a chuckle as her mind briefly dives into her past. Midori suggested them to ask about the guild system but Kirei didn't care much about that actually, they're still only a party but there's no lose for asking.

"You go ask the clerk, Midori. I will fetch some quests for us." Approaching the quest board, she took some time to look over the board before she decided to just rips all the posted quests from it and brought it all to the table. Just as she thought, quest papers spawned back on board with the same exact contents and the same exact position as the ones she ripped. To accomodate all the new players the devs probably set the quest to spawn infinitely, at least just for today to help the players get acclimated with the games.

"Look at all these quests, by reading through the quest locations we can get a feel on what dungeons are available for us." Shifting through the papers she showed the others one of the quest that she deemed the most interesting. It's a mine investigation that request the takers to investigate a monster infested quarry.

"I think this one is our best bet. We can mine some materials while we are at it. Each of us have at least one skill that would benefit from things like ores or minerals."

Megilagor · Apr 30, 2023

Name: Chessur
Location: Adventurers guild
Interactions:
Chessur simply explained to his party members, while looking at Midori and giving her the mental nudge to go forth with it.
"Registering at the guild cleric is a good idea, especially on the off chance that the party system of the game, and the party system of the guild are separate. Besides we might get free info or some buffs depending on our rank in the guild so that's always a good thing to get. And since you kinda gathered us here then you're the party leader Midori, which sadly means you get to register us in and make the party."
After saying whatever was on his mind, he awaited Kirei's return upon which he began sifting through the various quest papers on the table, and listening to her opinion.

He then took that quest and laid it out next to a different quest which is located near the other one, now having read both of the quests carefully he put them in the middle of the table and said.
"That is true we could get some materials from there, and coincidentally or not it's near another quest we could do, a bit further away should be a logging camp that has trouble with dire wolves. So my opinion is as such. We do the quarry and depending on how we are holding up after clearing it we go to the logging camp, so we will hit two birds with one stone, or should I say two quests with one trip."
As he finished saying what he had on his mind he send a DM to Midori saying.
"We got two potential quests here it's your choice which we go to, although we could go do both."

Spiderverse · May 6, 2023

Silva's head turned slowly toward Chessur, almost as if his head was the hand that counted the seconds on a clock in reaction to the name that he suggested for them. Though it may have appeared to be made at first out of disgust, the blonde avatar's behavior so far should have lead to the most obvious conclusion, he was just super excited. "Deviants?!? That's a super cool name! And youre definitely right that it suits our image!" Silva went from laid back to completely wired in, even immediately getting up from his seat the moment that Midori had mentioned going to the guild clerk. "I'll go with you! I really want to see what the system is like, maybe even take on some hidden quest if she has any."

Silva's interest was quickly piqued at the quest that Kirei selected, and read through it with the same level f excitement as he always has. "Getting more ores and stuff would be awesome actually. Mining was the first thing I did after I spawned in. Made this pretty basic pickaxe too." Scrollinh through his inventory, Silva quickly made the tool appear after holstering his arcane pistol. "My vote is definitely on the monster infested quarry."

TanteRegenbogen · May 16, 2023

(Sorry for the long wait.)

Midori nodded and went to the adventurer's guild clerk to register the party. As she approached, the clerk reacted with a polite bow and said: "Welcome to the adventurer's guild. Would you like to register a party or guild, check your membership status, get information on how the guild functions or may I help you with a different topic?" Midori thought that the way the NPC conducted herself was kind of robotic and less lively compared to the other NPCs. She decided to test it first before doing business.

Midori put her hand on the clerk's chin and said: "My are you a lovely young lady. What brings you to work at such an establishment?" The clerk immediately broke character and began to blush. "I... I... uh... It's that, the guild was looking for a clerk and I... found that I could take the job." The clerk said. She seemed pretty taken aback by Midori's action. "I don't want to be impolite, but... I am not into other girls." Midori looked her straight in the eyes and replied: "Really? Not even big, strong women such as myself?" "I... uh... I have never considered it." The clerk answered.

Midori took a step back. "Fine by me." She said. Under her breath, Midori mumbled: "Remarkable." She turned her attention back to the clerk and said: "I would like to register a party. The party name is [Deviants]. Here is the member list." Midori linked the member list to the clerk and waited for the clerk to process the registration. The clerk seemed a little hesitant at first before doing the paperwork. During the work, she occasionally captured glimpses at Midori, blushing when their eyes met.

When the clerk was done, she said: "So. Your registration i... is complete. May I otherwise be of service to you?" The clerk then looked away blushing again, noticing that the last sentence may have sounded strange. "I mean regarding guild services." "Yes, can you explain the guild functions? Is there a ranking system?" Midori asked. The clerk regained some composure and explained: "Well, in the adventurer's guild adventurers cannot only get quests and relax within the guild's facilities, but to get more dangerous quests you need a certain rank. The ranking is as follows: Iron, Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Titanium, Sapphire, Ruby, Diamond and Obsidian. Due to our branch being so young, we have no adventurers above Copper rank. Additionally, there are lists that present our best adventurers and parties. The top 20 of each rank can receive bonus buffs and rewards. To create your own guild, you need at least three members with a rank of copper or higher. Guilds receive a complimentary plot of land they can build their guild houses and member housing on. Parties have also a special privilege. They may have a reserved table at their home adventurer's guild branch. Up to the size of a full party or eight members." Midori automatically recorded the information using a function of her cybernetic hardware, so she could accurately present the information to the party members.

"Why thank you,..." Midori said then looking at the clerk's name tag: "... Miss Azalea." The clerk blushed again. Midori smiled and bowed before heading back to the table.

Back at the table, Midori sat down and said: "Absolutely remarkable these NPCs. Originally, the clerk presented herself in a robotic, unauthentic way, but I decided to test her and her reactions seem almost like a real person, maybe a slight overreaction on her part. Now she wont stop blushing." Midori could feel the gaze of the clerk Azalea was giving her from behind. "Anyways, I can give you a recording of what the clerk said or I can just tell you myself. In short, there is a ranked quest system. There are a best player and best party lists. Outstanding achievers get buffs and rewards. And we need at least copper rank to create a guild. Good part is, as a party we are entitled to a reserved table at the adventurer's guild."

Spoiled Bread · May 30, 2023

KireiNeko
Location: Adventurer's guild

"Yeah, the AI technology used here is quite remarkable." Kirei nodded in agreement.

"Be careful when interacting with the NPC though, before you know it they will add a system that allow us to marry NPC using real money." She lets out a chuckle that quickly turned into a cringe. While she only intended for her words to be a joke she realized that the developer can definitely go that way if they wanted to. The history of AI development was dotted with projects that start with wholesome or grandiose goal but ends up becoming a thrist trap for lonely people. She really hope the game would stay innocent but she wouldn't put her hope on the greedy corporate higher ups.

"Well, its good that devs added a ranking system, we now have something to strive for so let's start by doing the quarry quest. I have some money from killing NPC so I probably can buy us some basic pickaxes. or..." Kirei looked at Silva and his pickaxe "can you make some more of that?"

Steve Jobs · Jun 6, 2023

BLUE

Tags:

Spiderverse

However Higa might have felt about his party mates, Chessur was laying out a reasonable and more importantly efficient plan. If he was lucky, he wouldn't have to do any of the actual mining and if he wasn't well...it was always worth it to level a skill. He hadn't read up on how stamina worked in this game beyond the assumption that he might feel an equivalent level of exhaustion in real life. It was hard to believe that would translate considering his set up, but if he played his cards right he would never have to find out.

Higa watched Midori approach the clerk and speak with her, raising an eyebrow when the pink-haired player discussed the NPC's sudden change in behavior. He thought that overly human NPCs had been banned years ago so to see PaRaopen toeing the line of acceptability was interesting. While he wouldn't debase himself by running his own tests, he certainly hoped that his other party mates would go in his stead.

Well, save for marriage. It was weird enough when he heard tales of people marrying landmarks. Someone marrying a few lines of code was enough to make him puke.

"Don't give them ideas,"

Higa replied, shaking his head.

Following Kirei's suggestion, he nodded in kind before glancing over his own inventory.

"I've also got a bit of gold too if we need to split the cost."

ADVENTURER'S GUILD

Megilagor · Jun 13, 2023

Name: Chessur
Location: Adventurers guild
Interactions: Spoiled Bread , TanteRegenbogen

Now Chessur simply waited for everyone to gather before doing anything else.
As Kirei said she can go out and buy picks for the rest of us Chessur had to add something to it, so he put a pouch with half of his gold on the table in the direction of Kirei while saying.
"Yeah, I can chip in as well for the picks. While we are at it we should get some light sources, torches or lanterns after all even in quarries there are strip mines and we might have to enter there. Depending on the situation, the lights could be there, so having one or two in the case is good."
Being now half of his coins lighter felt weird but if it is for the party he could bear it, and as Midori approached and said about her NPC encounter he could only laugh internally at the situation, and not commenting about it would be weird.

"Wait Midori you might have a love interest." Said Chessur then glanced at the clerk who stared into Midori with a blush on her face, which only confirmed his assumption.
"Yup definitely a crush and as well a borderline AI, they like to live dangerously I see, those game developers are good."
Chessur had to fight back and urge to joke about the situation any further, and Kirei's idea that they might add NPC marriage option only made him contemplate for a bit.
A bit of time passed but he pushed through to break himself out of this state by slapping his own face.
Somehow it worked so now he decided to act before he falls down that rabbit hole of thinking again and freezes.
"Well if we have decided what to do we should head out and get what we need before going there."
After saying so Chessur stood up from the table, did a small bow while pointing his hands towards the entrance to the building awaiting his party members next move.

Spiderverse · Jul 6, 2023

Silva was a little too good at keeping track of the conversation, his 'point' of hearing splitting between the rest of the party and Midori's interaction with the guild NPC. He couldn't help but snicker at the interaction, making sure to hold his mouth up to his face to hid the grin that kept growing on his face. His face turned back to normal as the NPC started to info dump, making sure to focus up and remember all of the important information. "Three members at Copper, and buffs for the top 20? Yeesh that is so totally cheating if that is progression-based. Good thing to look out for later."

As he waited for Midori to finish going through the dialogue, Silva's attention went back to the rest of the group, just enough to catch the requirement and request for more pickaxes from Kirei. "Oh yeah I can totally do that. If we want one for each that would be... four right? I think I have just enough leftover materials for that. Best to save the rest for whatever other ore we'll find in the quarry!" He turned to Blue and Chessur next, holding up a hand to stop them. "We should try and craft as much as we can. Usually the starter town's have stuff that we can just craft ourselves if we can spend the time. Especially if we're already gonna be spec'ing into that gear or item's tree. But we can figure all that out along the way. Let's get going!" Popping up from his leaned position, Silva already started making his way out, before even bothering to look at where the quarry was located.

TanteRegenbogen · Jul 8, 2023

Midori listened to the input of the others. Pretty much everyone agreed to do a quarry quest and make pickaxes for it. They would need other equipment for it depending on the location of the quarry. If it was a mine, it could be an open mine or something underground. "Maybe while doing the quest we will run into some low level mobs and may be able to level some skills too. With my masonry skill, I could maybe form rocks we may come across into shapes that could be profitable to sell, such as bricks for players who already are building guild halls and stuff." Midori said.

She gazed over to the clerk NPC who was still looking in her direction. It began making Midori uncomfortable. She looked away and tried to distract herself. Midori looked through her stats and saw in the adventurer's guild UI that she was registered as the lowest rank of Iron. She closed the menu and agreed with Silva, saying: "Yes. Let us go and get this done as quickly as possible. Cram in plenty of progress before some of us have to go to bed."

Midori got up and picked her sword up that she had leaned again a nearby wall. Midori felt the clerk's gaze before she heard the clerk call out: "Happy hunting! Stay safe and I hope Miss Midori and her party come back soon." Midori shuddered. She definitely broke the game mechanics already. "Let's just go. That NPC is giving me strange vibes." She said before heading towards the door.

Spoiled Bread · Sep 1, 2023

KireiNeko
Location: Adventurer's guild -> the quarry

Kirei let out a chuckle seeing the weird interaction between Midori and her new AI fan. Hopefully this means Midori would get bonus guild points or something in the future. Kirei might've dismissed the AI here as less advanced than she expected but she's still interested in discovering the benefits of befriending them, what the developers had in store to encourage the players to immerse themself and treat the NPCs as real beings.

"Allright, let's go!" Kirei cheerfully lead the others towards the plaza. She also didn't know where the quarry was located but she did know that there's a huge map of the starter town and its surrounding in the central plaza. There's also a decent amount of various stalls there so they can stock up on things while they go.

After locating the quarry on the map and buying some supplies, it didn't take long for them to reach the quarry. The entrance to said place was a rather unremarkable cave with several abandoned mine carts outside. Looking inside barely reveals anything as the place was pitch black apart from the first few meters where sunlight still reaches. There seems to be torches bolted into the wall here and there but none of them was lit up. In the middle of the path, a beaten rail track leads deep into the darkness.

"Well, anyone up to take the first step?" Kirei extended her hands sideways to the direction of the quarry.

"I kinda died twice already so I would rather go in last."

Spiderverse

Megilagor · Sep 10, 2023

Name: Chessur
Location: Adventurers guild -> Quarry
Interactions: Spiderverse Spoiled Bread , TanteRegenbogen
Chessur followed after the others, mainly after Kirei since she seemed to know where to go. In fact, she did not know, but at least she knew where to find the map, and Chessur being a bit lazy and wanting to study the map later essentially screenshotted it and saved it for later.

"Well then if you would let me do it Midori, I will act as a scout while you lead the rest inside. Since I with no armor and higher dex should be able to dodge and sneak around more easily than you." Said Chessur as he grabbed his knife in one hand and his lit DIY torch in the other. Now being ready he stepped inside one of the nearest mine tunnels and crouched to reduce his posture and sound of him walking essentially like a crab forward. His torch was off to the side of him in case some kind of enemy with a ranged weapon would try to target around the light.

His stride was slow and careful, mainly because he was looking out for any kind of trap or signs of mob movement that he should alert his party about while remembering to light some of the torches that adorned the walls of the tunnel to light the path for them and at the same time indicate that no trap was found there. Truthfully Chessur could have informed them about it via a text message in the game but he 'synchronized' with his character too much at this point and forgot that text messages existed in the game.

After a little bit of time, Chessur heard some rustle and noise within one of the side tunnels, so he stopped and raised the hand that held the knife up above his head as to indicate enemy contact.

TanteRegenbogen · Sep 27, 2023

Midori followed the others to the quarry where their first quest would be. Kirei asked who would go in ahead and Chessur volunteered since he was a scout before Midori could interject. Midori could have volunteered to be the vanguard of the group since she was more of a tank type character and could attract the enemies to attack her while the others could do the damage. "Well, I guess that would make sense, since you are a scout. But if it gets dangerous, I could just attract any enemies and dish out the receiving end of the damage for the party while the others can focus on their parts." Midori said as Chessur went ahead.

When Chessur went into the tunnels, he stopped and signalled a nearby enemy. "So how should we go about this. Should we stay stealthy and wait until we are attacked or shall I attract the enemies?" Midori whispered to the others.