PHASE I [ ?? ?? ] This time, ViViD is a deathtrap.
There is random magma everywhere, monsters will spawn at random, and at some points, the game is entirely unplayable. It’s like the dev team totally disappeared mid-constructing the level.
Oh wait, that’s exactly what happened.
Monsters may spawn on top of you, you may suddenly be standing in a poisonous bog, you may suddenly lose your powers, or your senses, or so many different things --
It’s time to get out of here, ASAP.
Thankfully, the exit is obvious. Like. Blindingly obvious. It’s got a big sign over it that says EXIT
And just like that, you’ll be out of ViViD and --
PHASE II [ 0830 ] When you wake up (and it’s strange, because you were sure that you were logging out just a second ago), it’s in a pile of bodies.
They’re cold, but not in the same sense that a dead body would be cold. While they are lifeless and look incredibly real, they don’t feel real. They feel like dolls, mannequins, empty models and nothing more. Their code doesn’t seem to be functioning right.
And what some characters may realize upon looking at this pile of bodies is that they are all of the characters who were sacrifices before. Any character that was dropped who had a high magical or spiritual affinity is there in that pile of bodies, lifeless and eyes blank and vacant. Even you might be there, staring at your own dead body -- but it isn’t real It can be touched, but it’s really nothing more than a lifeless body.
You’ll have to crawl out of that pile of bodies to get anywhere, and then you’ll realize -- you’re in the Sanctuary, a building built by the characters as a safe place from CERES. And it’s looking pretty run-down at this point. The technology in it no longer functions, there is no security on it whatsoever…
Oh, and now there’s a pile of bodies. Great.
PHASE III [ 1000 ] There’s also a robot.
It’s wandering from place to place, though it’s impossible to follow. One second it’s there, the next it’s just gone.
Also, it’s wearing this. Weird.
But even with that on its face, the robot seems focused on one thing in particular. In fact, it has a sign, and it says:
Down with CERES. Up with Robots.
That’s a happy, cheerful message. If you try to go up to it to talk to it, it will look at you before...bonking you on the head with the sign and running off. That’s incredibly rude.
Alternatively, you may be safe and sound in your home, but then the doorbell rings, and there’s the robot again. The duck mask is gone, but now instead it has a pin on his fake lapel, and then he’s shoving a pamphlet at you.
He tips his hat, and then he’s gone. Weird.
(Also, if you hold onto the pamphlet, it will lead you directly to the person whose picture is on it, and you’ll feel like you’ve known them and have loved them for years.)
PHASE IV [ 1245 ] But not all is fun and games and shenanigans. There is something...well, strange happening, and the first real realization of that will be when it starts to rain. More than just the localized rain that a few unfortunates have dealt with -- no, it’s raining completely and totally, and that’s when it might hit you.
For the first time in Cerealia, there’s weather.
It’ll rain for a few hours, and then it’ll stop and become hot and sunny. It may get humid, considering it’s a jungle planet. At night, it’ll get rather cold.
Seems like whatever was keeping Cerealia’s atmosphere stable is now gone -- which also means that characters may start to occasionally experience headaches, nausea and dizziness if they go too close to the walls. It seems safer in the center of the city, and the Residential District is still okay, but… there’s no doubt that the planet’s atmosphere is starting to encroach on the city.
BONUS [ why o'clock ] But who cares about all of that? More importantly, you are here in this… totally not shoddy city to have fun, and it’s still being advertised as a pleasure colony. Or, well, it would be if, you know, CERES was still around.
But close enough.
And as a pleasure colony, it would figure that the first robots to really get fixed are...well, the Pleasure District robots. Unfortunately, the Pleasure District is still a nice big mess, so now they’re wandering the entire colony, looking for people they can hug, massage or...try to drag into more explicit activities.
Welcome to Cerealia!
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dodging, on the other hand, was. what little bits of molten rock managed to come his way were side-stepped or otherwise ducked from, but clearly he was in the presence of a seasoned fighter, if the agile way this guy moved was any indication. ]
Y-you've done stuff like this before, haven't you?
[ ...making small talk might not be a good idea, but running in silence was far too awkward for keigo. ]
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Yes. As a sword spirit I have seen many battles.
[ That sorta makes some sense if you're familiar with tsukumogami. ]
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A... a sword spirit?
[ keigo was familiar with spirits and his sense of such things was keen, but with all the distractions to be found in the level, properly assessing them wasn't a priority. at the very least, it explained some things. ]
So, what-- you're a tsukumogami or something?
[ spirits of inanimate objects... something like that after a century, certain objects were prone to becoming sentient? maybe... having an interest in the occult and folklore tended to supply one with useless trivia. thing of it was, keigo wasn't entirely serious when he asked. ]
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There are many of us here along with our master, Haru-san. If we make it to the exit...I will bring to our apartment to meet them all.
[ It's a promise as Kousetsu ducks to dodge yet again another flaming rock. He'll eye the exit, now only a few feet away, and then Keigo. ]
Can you run?
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"Haru-san?" Then...
[ ...he must have been like kashuu and mutsu! just how many of them were there?! either way, it was something that could be addressed later, when they were out of the level! ]
Nevermind for now. Yeah, I can run!
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He is our master, our saniwa. [ But he does nod after that. They were really close to the exit at least. Except it required jumping across a gaping chasm flowing with lava?! ]
This will...not work. We must find another way across. [ There may or may not be a rickety old bridge a few feet down that they can use. It might be more safe to jump though, tbh. ]
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he blinked at the chasm... and immediately mentally checked out. nope nope NOPE. ]
W-w-what the hell do they expect us to--?!
[ keigo frantically looked to and fro... catching sight of the bridge. he felt relief for all of five seconds before he noticed just how unstable it looked. ]
...So, either that bridge that might break and send us to our deaths ... or jumping.
[ he rubbed his face, sighing irritably. ]
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[ Kousetsu?!?! You are literally way too calm about everything. But without calm one can't exactly think under pressure. ]
It will...be fine. I will not let any harm come to you.