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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[ and she rushes towards the monster, giving it a bunch of hard punches as soon as she's near it. the tonberry doesn't move, and in fact, just takes all the hits. strange... ]
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[ She rushes forward though, and considering she actually seems to know what she's doing at first he holds back. It's when it seems to be alright, however, that he can feel his nerves crawling. ]
It isn't doing anything! [ Athena why did you put him in this position??? ]
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[ ah... more stuff that merlin probably can't get a grasp of (yet). she keeps attacking and attacking the monster until it finally decides to counter and cut athena in the arm. ]
— Ow!
[ this is her cue to back off for now. of course, it only hurts while in vivid, there's nothing to be afraid of once she logs out. but still...! it's like the real thing, anyway. ]
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It's too dangerous and he doesn't know how long he can keep this up.
It's when the monster lashes out again that Athena will find he gave her a teeny lie there. There aren't any words because this is a type of magic that don't need then, but Merlin pulls himself forward, stepping in front of her. His free out moves out as if to signal to stop the monster but then it's being thrown back by some kind of magical blast. ] Stop!
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Woah... What was that?
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How bad is it? [ He makes sure she still has sight of the thing that did that, reaching out to check her arm. Sorry, but the concept of this just being virtual reality isn't quite helping him realise that she isn't really hurt in the "real world". So to speak. ]
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[ and it can be fixed easily with a potion since that cut literally cut off some of her health points! but she has no potion or any other items on her... oops. she should try and remedy that when she gets to the next down. or if there's a shop here in the swamp, then even better. ]
Don't worry about me.
[ btw she isn't buying that "n-nothing". ]
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Otherwise you never know what might happen. Your attacks weren't bothering it, you realise?
[ Speaking of "it"... there's a noise as it stirs again, starting to stand once more. ]
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[ she nods and readies herself, imitating a martial arts stance that merlin's likely never heard of. (it's judo.) ]
It's a tough one, too! Whatever it is you did, you're going to have to do it again!
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While it starts moving towards them again he takes a step forward, glancing back at her uneasily. ]
If I asked you to close your eyes, would you do it?
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Fine. Only because we're friends.
[ since when???? but shh she's decided now. ]
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He stops when he properly has her covered, blocking the tonberry's path to her by standing in the way.
His hand moves up again, and Merlin takes a deep breath but this time she'll hear some foreign language that she probably hasn't heard before. ]
Cume her fyrbryne. [ If her eyes remain closed she won't see the flash of fire starting at his feet, moving forward in a rush of flames before they engulf the tonberry whole. ]
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that said, as much as she wants to open an eye, she hesitates. he did trust her to do something. she can't mess it up!
the tonberry makes some weird screechy noises, and that's athena's signal to speak up again. somehow, being told that she can't open her eyes also seemed like being told not to breathe, and not to speak. ]
Is it— [ pant. ] —okay to open my eyes now? [ pant. ]
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It's still screeching and considering it's part reptile fire can only do so much.
His hand clenches in front of him, teeth grit and then the ground itself seems to reach up for the monster. No words are muttered this time but hollow trees seem to grow branches that curl around it, holding it in place as the fire magic finally burns through.
The only problem with that is that... it sets the trees on fire. gj. ]
You can. [ He might have gotten rid of the thing but... fire......... is everywhere. ] Can we leave now?
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[ there's fire everywhere!
in a fit of panic, she explains how to log out in a Very Loud Voice! ] Try it now!
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He's not as concerned about the fire because he has other spells to protect them but... leaving would be Excellent. He looks uncertain as he copies what she tells him to do. There's a hiccup or two, but then the swamp is gone and instead he's staring up at a white room with a helmet on his head more disorientated than ever. ]
Where...?
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she takes her helmet off and smiles at merlin. ]
Welcome to Cerealia!
[ SHE'S BEEN WAITING TO SAY THIS FOR QUITE SOME TIME NOW. ]
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To-- [ He stops suddenly to reach up and rub his eyes. It feels all the brighter in here with the white walls and bright yellow clothes. Athena why don't you come with sunglasses???
Thankfully it's just while his eyes adjust. ]
Thanks. So this is where exactly? [ Like he really isn't stupid but... a white walled room hardly looks good, now does it? ]
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This is a room inside the gaming center. Don't worry, you'll get used to this.
[ a beat. ]
Especially when CERES basically forces you into ViViD from time to time.
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The gaming centre? [ Once the helmet is safely tucked away he shakes his head. That doesn't actually matter. ]
So sometimes we're forced back into that place?
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So we have to be ready at all times. We aren't even brought in with our gear. It's a huge pain.
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Wait-- [ That's when he realises, reaching out for her arm that had been injured while inside there and just like she said... nothing shows up now. How strange. ] Where did it...?
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[ she looks down at her arm. no cuts there! ]
Oh! Yeah. The injuries you sustain in ViViD aren't real.
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So that's why you went charging in? [ No, lbr, that's just Athena. ]
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[ she shakes her head, a bit puzzled by the question. ]
How else would you fight a monster, anyway? I mean, my weapons are my fists.
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