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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usagi
I don't know.
[Well...he thinks about it, and then rubs the back of his head.]
When I first got here, there was a lake that showed you pictures you wanted to see of people back home. Maybe they're doing something like that again, but not really at the same time.
[Because that makes a whole lot of sense, right?]
no subject
[Well, her friends too. But she has sort of at least gathered she isn't necessarily alone at this point. So it sort of makes sense? If the dolls are another part of this sort of thing from the lake, not that Usagi herself was around for that.]
no subject
[You sound so confident about this, Yuu.
He considers the doll again, and then shrugs.]
I wouldn't toss it or anything, but it's probably one of those slaps in the face that CERES does sometimes.
no subject
[Still. It is kind of cruel, in a way. Especially if these are dolls of some or everyone's closest people that aren't necessarily here with them. Bittersweet, a nostalgic and painful reminder of home, even if some might be more or less sentimental about it.]
So we'll just keep them with us while we find an exit then.
no subject
[She's really intense about this guy -- but he knows he'd be kind of jumpy too if he found a doll of Mika or Shinoa or something like that. So...he can't judge too much.]
Yeah, let's go, before we suddenly start sinking or something like that.
[He's pulled enough people out of mud today.]
no subject
[So. She's all on board with this 'get the heck out of here' plan. If she actually had any clue which direction to go in, exactly. Usagi's mostly just been wandering around trying to find some way out, some way to farther progress and get to the colony.]
no subject
Right, then follow me.
[Or. Something.]
no subject
[She does, figuring he seems to at least have some more experience with the whole ViVid thing in comparison. And he isn't heading off in the direction she came from. So it's possible it might help them progress at least.]
So, how far through do you think we are already? Is there usually a way to tell how close you are to the end?
no subject
[He's so helpful -- but he scratches at the back of his head while he thinks about how he got out of his own first level.]
I don't remember there being a sign the last time I played it, I just...got to the end somehow, eventually.
[Yep, still helpful.]
no subject
[She's not sure what to make of that. Still, some video games levels can really differ, so it's hard to say for sure. She's certainly never been in one like this, to say the least.]
I guess we won't get anywhere just standing around though!
no subject
[And he'll start walking off now, hopefully in the right direction...]
What's your name, by the way?
no subject
Ah -- Usagi. Tsukino Usagi.
no subject
[But he's used to meeting people in weird situations, at least.]
I'm Yuichiro Hyakuya -- but you can call me Yuu, if you want!
no subject
[Outside of the ViVid and all. Still, she can't help but smile at that, considering the name for a moment. He doesn't seem much if any older than her.]
So, Yuu-chan then? Or kun?
[She always figures 'chan' as cuter but. Maybe he would prefer the other honorific.]
no subject
[He pauses, thinking about it. Mika is one of the only people who calls him -chan, and thinking about that makes him think about how much he misses him, and his other friends, so...]
I'm okay with -kun. Or no honorifics at all -- whatever you want to do.
[He doesn't use them, personally, but y'know.]
no subject
[So long as it isn't always like....well, like this. Obviously, the ViVid levels can be an exception. The clarification gets a nod, a smile in spite of the initial slight pout. Yuu-chan does sound much cuter, okay.]
Yuu-kun then!
no subject
...Yeah.
[And he puts his hands on the back of his head as he walks.]
We'll get you out of here soon.
no subject
Course we will, if we work together! We're bound to figure it out.
[Between Yu's sword skills and her general video game knowledge of the basics of what to likely expect.]