The thing about Cerealia is, there really isn't any nature to be found here. Sure, you can go outside the walls of the city and explore the land beyond but who wants to risk a terrible, horrible death just to sniff the flowers? Not you, that's who! CERES understands that, CERES sympathizes, and sometimes CERES decides to take action when such problems arise. As part of the company's current "Healthier and Happier YOU" initiative, they've decided to let everyone get back in touch with nature a little.
Via ViViD.
Of course, this being CERES, the nature they've sent everyone to is more of a swamp. The place is disgusting, a real marvel of ViViD ingenuity and it smells like the dead. There's strange rustling among the leaves from creatures that may or may not want to eat you, and random pits that open up right under your feet with the goal of sending you straight into the marsh. It's not really that fun. There's no welcome sign either, no nothing except for swamplands as far as the eye can see.
Welcome to ViViD!  This is Mosley. One of our programmers forgot to include a welcome greeting for the level this time. How incompetent can you get? He's been fired now, it's fine. Instead, I will greet you today. Lucky you! You've been invited today to participate in CERES's "Healthier and Happier YOU" level where we've combined both physical exercise and relaxing meditation into the ultimate ViViD experience. Isn't that fun? You can... go camping and stuff. Or whatever. I don't... know...
Honestly, I don't even care. Have fun.
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PHASE I [ 6 00 ] Welcome to your new healthy living training ground! What does a swamp have to do with healthy living, you may ask? Absolutely nothing! To make up for it, CERES has outfitted all players with the proper equipment for their new healthy living lifestyle. They also may or may not have let you keep your shoes based on how benevolent the ViViD gods were being at the time. (Not very.)
Oh, and all newcomers will have something additional on their fancy new yoga shirt. It will be displayed loudly and proudly all over the front and back of it. And if you're one of the few not wearing a shirt, it will be on the back of your pants. As in, your butt. It will be on your butt.
What’s ViViD trying to say, anyway?
Regardless, it probably doesn’t matter as much as finding your way through the swamp. Some sort of dry land would be really nice right now, wouldn't it? You'll have to watch out for the mud that will suck you right down under the marsh, and the creatures with lots of teeth that will never surface from the mud but won't hesitate to snap up an unwary foot or two.
CERES is sure you'll be fine. Totally and completely fine.
PHASE II [ 800 ] Eventually, if you try really, really hard, you’ll make it to a house. Actually, it’s more of a shack, really. If you clamber your way out of the mud and the gunk and the marsh into said shack, you will find it to be empty aside from a table. A table hosting a huge pile of... well, health drinks. See, there's totally a health theme in this level. CERES would never make a ViViD level that wasn't thematically appropriate. Never! Health drinks of all sorts and types and sizes can be found here and there’s even a sign too; it simply says:
Take one.
Well, that seems safe.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to leave said shack until you do take one. And drink it. The door will lock shut and cover itself in more swamp until you do. Yay. Depending on your luck, the drink may do the following to you: ➟ Cause your ViViD experience to glitch. This may involve phasing through walls, seeing everything in 8-bit, or hearing really annoying old video game music everywhere you go.
➟ Cause status effects. This can include suddenly moving incredibly slowly, being turned to stone for a period of time, suddenly being on fire, suddenly being poisoned, etc etc.
➟ Be healthier. Mmm, kale and hummus smoothie. Taste those veggies. If you try to take more than one, that’s fine too, nobody will stop you, but you probably won’t get lucky more than once.
PHASE III [ 900 ] And back you go, out into the swampy wilderness. Don’t give up! Keep going! Eventually, you’ll find the end of this level. Probably.
Eventually, though, you may stumble across something in the mud and the muck. It’s... a little doll?
In fact, it’s a little doll of one of your most important people (or, alternatively, of someone you absolutely hate). It might be someone in Cerealia currently, or someone who isn’t, but either way, the doll is there and it’s clearly them (covered in mud and all). Be careful, though. If you toss it aside, you’ll suddenly see that important person being tossed aside. If you cut the doll, you'll suddenly see that person bleeding. Even if they aren’t present in Cerealia, whatever happens to that doll, you'll see it happening to them. Is it a hallucination or are they actually there? That's a little more up in the air.
And if they are present in Cerealia, well... doing things to that doll might very well hurt them too -- for real, this time, though.
Be careful! Or don't. You do you, as CERES would say.
PHASE IV [ 1200 ] And then, eventually you reach a quiet, swampy area. Not that the rest of the swamp isn't swampy, this area is just extra swampy.
There’s very little happening here in this swampy place; even the birds are no longer squawking. And for a long moment, everything will remain quiet and peaceful, a place of reprieve... until the swamp begins to bubble. Then suddenly, a new friend will burst out of the swamp, showering mud and gunk everywhere.
Without warning, that creature is going to try to grab for the nearest person (it might be you!) and let out a mighty roar when they have them. Then, they'll hold them up to... read the nutrition facts on their shirt? What?
Of course, it will try to gobble you or whoever else it grabs if it finds, say, the salt content to be acceptable (the monster is watching their carbs). If it's not, then they'll just fling you away and move onto the next snack. For those without a handy nutrition facts label on your shirt, well, it might just take a gamble and try to eat you anyway.
Great. A health-conscious monster. That's just what this level needed.
BONUS [ xxxx ] Finally, you’re free of the game. Without warning, you’re dumped into Cerealia properly and you’re able to scrub the mud and gunk from your clothing (wait why did that come back with you and where are your normal clothes?). You're able to then make your way to your new place of residence (or old) and...
There is a tiny tree there waiting for you. Isn’t it cute? And if you take care of this tiny tree, it will eventually bear fruit! Tiny fruit. Itty bitty fruit.
Depending on which tiny tree you get, it will be one of the following: a tiny dildo tree, a tiny bacon tree, a tiny kazoo tree, a tiny carolina reaper tree, or a (dumb) tiny hats tree.
Everything will, naturally, be tiny. Enjoy your new healthy CERES gift!
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
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So he stands completely still while she looks over the drinks.]
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That said, she's going to pick up a different drink now and sniff it - can you smell poison? Goodness, that's what he was supposed to be used for!!
But regardless she's going to offer it to him now.]
Don't drink all of it! Just do it slowly!
[ . . . . ]
This is the only thing that you're permitted to do slowly!
1/2
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Don't tell me I have to guide your hand....!
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[SHE DOESN'T WANT TO HAVE TO GUIDE HIS HAND BUT THIS IS TAKING FOREVER.]
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The drink is almost at his lips now at least. And his lips pucker shift into a sipping position.]
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She might've started to hold her breath at some point.
PLEASE HEAL HIM.]
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And then... very slow chugs ensue.]
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Why're you chugging it?!
[she's going to kill you once you get better]
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I... I apologize! I only intended to chug a little this time, Lily-san...!
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oh god and that manages to get her to stop entirely as her shoulders sag and a hand comes to her chest.]
You're okay.....
[He's okay and that's what matters and she might be a little emotional right now because she still hasn't had anything to drink
but mostly because he's okay and it was her fault and what if he'd stayed like that???]
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...I apologize for worrying you, Lili-san.
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[She says even as she's going to go ahead and wipe at her eyes to smudge away the beginnings of tears.]
I.... I shouldn't have made you drink that.
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But... Lili-san! This is not your fault! That was my choice. I... I wanted to help you, from the bottom of my heart! I am the one who messed up!
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S-Stop that...!! What're you doing? Don't take a blame that isn't yours! I really.... I really can't stand selfless people like you, you know!
[what is all this blubbering]
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I am sorry about who I am! But I need to go above and beyond for those I care about!
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Hey! Shut up!
[AND SHE STRAIGHTENS UP as tall as 5'2" can get her in order to be as commanding as possible.]
Didn't you hear me? If you apologize for being who you are or doing what you do one more time, I'll really hate you! [tsun logic] Don't you dare try to take responsibility for this or I'll never forgive you.
I'm not kidding around!
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I... I am...! [He then claps his hands over his mouth when he realizes that he's about to apologize for apologizing too much. He shakes his head to get himself out of it and nods.]
...I understand!! The last thing I would want is your hatred, Lili-san! ...But, I do not want you to take responsibility either!
I... I will not allow that! [It's... a very weak attempt to try to match her volume. He can't even pretend to threaten to hate her like she did, either. So he just... stands there with his shaky pride.]
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But it comes from a good place, she supposes.
And... she hates it. She hates how good of a person he is, she really does. It'll get him in trouble later.]
.... We will both learn from these mistakes.
That's all.
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He did not want to talk back... but he also did not want Lili to blame herself for this. And it seems, an agreeable compromise has been met.
Lee nods firmly.]
That is correct. We will become stronger than the us of yesterday!
[He follows that with an intense thumbs up.]
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and after all that, Lili's back to being snappy (though admittedly a fraction kinder)]
You're incredibly cliche, you know that?
[.... this is kindness. yeah.]
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Thank you! I am glad to fulfill a standard of sincerity that you are very familiar with! [Does he rehearse positive spins on every insult...?]
Ah, with that settled... Do you have any other business in this hut, Lili-san?
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Lucky for Lee, she's distracted by his question.]
... Oh.
No, I don't think so. I don't trust any of these enough to ingest them.
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