Complete Eastern Brisshal Bearly Begun

[Vina Skysong]

It is, yes. People have been trying to find out who made this game for as long as it has been out, but I don't think anyone's ever been able to figure anything out.

It truly was mysterious, how the developers of Terrasphere effectively didn't exist. The world for the most part ran on its own without maintenance, and if anyone had ever found a way to track them down they hadn't bothered to share that information with the world.

But it seems like they did change some things while we couldn't access the servers. From my memory, Arcanamancy was purely offensive in nature. Magical artillery, I think it was described as. Maybe there was another way to use it, but most masteries are pretty straightforward.

Would the inhabitants of this world have noticed anything? Or would they have thought that the changes were how things had always been? Terrasphere had already proven itself capable of messing with your head through Death Afflictions, and People of the Land should be even more susceptible to changes made by the gods of this world.

The men, unruly as they were, quieted down a little as Cleo gave her input on the necessity of keeping watch from now on, and advising people to not disturb the local ecosystem too much. They still didn't look entirely convinced, but at least those suggestions were deemed sensible.

Are you saying you Travelers are the cause of this?

Vina quickly spoke up in response.

When new Travelers arrive they want to put themselves to the test, and because they arrive here they often test their skills against wildlife. It's possible that with so many new Travelers arriving at the same time after four years of absence it's making the wildlife act erratically.

About that: why are the Travelers coming back? You all disappeared four years ago, and now there's more of you than ever!

We were locked out from this world, and only recently could we find our way back in.

Vina bowed quickly towards the inhabitants of Honeyhome, at least the ones that were present at the moment.

I'm sorry for all the trouble that we're causing, and I'll do my best to make sure you won't have to worry about any other wildlife coming too close to the village.

That still didn't completely satisfy the men, as they didn't like seeing Darren in this state and liked the idea of being attacked by wild beasts late at night even less, but there wasn't much more they could say after that.

You two look like you fought hard to protect Darren. Thank you for saving his life. The man looked at the innkeeper, who'd been tending to Darren's wounds while the others talked with the Travelers. Think he'll make it, Poltas?

The innkeeper grunted. He should be fine. Wounds look mostly healed already. He glanced over at Vina and Cleo. You two can have a room for the night for free if you want it. It's the least we can do as thanks for your hard work.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Well it made sense that the identities wasn't known amongst the playerbase, but Cleo could still admit to feeling a little disappointed that she hadn't just managed to stumble onto some kind of overlooked clue or source of information. That kind of stuff happened all the time in crime novels, spy films and those kinds of media, but it seemed that life wasn't quite prepared to hand her the luxury of being protagonist in her own little noire film called life. Though the knowledge that Arcanamancy had essentially been little more than magical artillery, launching blasts beams and explosions, was something to mull over. The developers, whoever they were and wherever they could be, were still working on things like patches and balance changes, it seemed.

Why on earth were they treating it like a standard game?

Though, Vina offering her help keeping the village safe seemed a little foolish. What did the girl think she owed a bunch of NPC AI? Though considering she'd been hanging around the area anyway, maybe it suited her plans regardless. Either way, it did seem to buy them a little more goodwill with the people, not that saving the man, apparently named Darren, hadn't already done that, but in the detective's experience, there was no such thing as having too much goodwill with people. Friendly people were useless people. Maybe she could fold an NPC or two into some kind of information network? Surely players would talk a little more freely around NPCs, thinking that they just wouldn't understand what was being said?

I appreciate the offer for an inn room. So long as it won't be putting anybody out of a room for a night.

Though she wasn't too sure why she needed a room. Couldn't she just log out and she'd be totally fine when she logged back in the next morning? Actually, that was something that she could ask an experienced player and see if they had much more knowledge on that kind of subject. She glanced at Vina. The girl would do nicely for having a veteran's point of view.

Shall we share? I would like to ask a few questions and such, being new here and all.

@Vina Skysong

 

[Vina Skysong]

Don't worry about that. Travelers will buy a lot of food, but they rarely ask for a bed. The innkeeper, Poltas, frowned. I'll never be able to understand how you work, but as long as you're helping out I'm not asking any questions.

Vina smiled at that. The innkeeper seemed like a friendly man, even if he wasn't one to use too many words when fewer words would also do the trick.

I wouldn't mind explaining, but unfortunately even a sensible man such as you might not understand~ No offense meant, but my attempts at explaining this to other People of the Land didn't work so well.

She turned her attention towards Cleo as the lancer asked her whether she was willing to share a room. The druidess quickly nodded, actually being quite happy with the suggestion.

How could I say no to such an invitation~?

One of the men let out a brief snort, but Vina ignored that as she took Cleo by the hand and led the way to the stairs, catching the key that the innkeeper threw at her along the way. The vulpine healer would hum a cheerful melody as they made their way up the stairs, and then past the doors until she found the one which matched the key. Opening it and pulling Cleo inside, Vina let go of the beauty's hand as she walked over to the window and opened the shutters so the moonlight could stream in.

So, what's on your mind Cleo~?

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

The fact that Travelers, what she was assuming was the term used by the NPCs to reference players, rarely ever paid for beds did at least make her feel like most people didn't need to sleep in the game and just logged out, which also made her think that a player's avatar vanished whenever they were logged out, but it still needed to be tested before she could safely put that knowledge into practice. Besides, it was always a good idea to gather knowledge about things before she ever actually tried to interact with them, just to be well informed.

Though she wasn't exactly deaf to the snort that was let out or the way that Vina had responded to her innocent request, she shrugged and rolled her eyes, accepting Vina's hand and allowing the girl to pull her along, only briefly stopping so that Vina could snatch a tossed key out of the air and palm it, before they climbed the stairs and entered the room that they had been given, which was just as plain as Cleo had been imagining it would be. Not that the plain nature of the room was a bad thing, but well, she could see how it would throw some people off.

Well, you're a veteran player, right? You mentioned Arcanamancy being something different before, so I assume you played the game before they managed to pull everybody out of the servers?

Taking a few steps into the room, Cleo sat at the foot of the bed, which consisted of two single beds pushed together, using her inventory to unequip her spear completely. She didn't feel like she'd be needing it for the rest of the evening, not unless Vina decided that she now had an ample opportunity to add another kill to her name or something. Though given that the girl was a support player, Cleo figured that maybe she could take the druidess down? Either way, it didn't matter. She sighed, flicking her hair over her shoulders and down her back, crossing one leg over the other as she leaned back.

What happens when we log out? Do our avatars vanish, or remain motionless and helpless?

@Vina Skysong

 

[Vina Skysong]

While Cleo made herself comfortable on the bed, Vina looked down and finally realized just how messy she looked at the moment. She'd already gotten rid of her staff and her instruments, so the only thing left was to try and clean herself up a bit. With the door locked and only Cleo present, it wasn't like she really had to worry about anything: it wasn't like the red-haired lancer had given Vina any reason to doubt her motives.

The druidess quickly removed her shredded clothes, putting them in her inventory as they came off. The fight had been quite messy, and in the end, Vina deemed that it was more convenient to just go nude for the remainder of the night. She didn't think they'd stay awake for much longer anyway unless Cleo had way more questions than the druidess was anticipating.

With the damaged equipment safely stowed away, the fox girl rested her arms on the windowsill, enjoying the sensation of the chilly night breeze blowing into the room, making her silver-white hair flare while her tail swished from side to side behind her. Even when she was wearing nothing, that obscenely long hair and that large tail actually did a good job keeping Vina decent... providing you weren't facing her from the front.

Yes, I'd been playing for a while before the shutdown happened. Not as long as those who'd be called veterans, but long enough that I took part in some of the events~

She turned her head to look at Cleo, her gaze a mixture of nostalgia and sadness

It really was a wonderful time, before we learned of what happened to those who died three times. I still love this world, but I also don't want people to get hurt because of it.

A small sigh escaped her lips, but she quickly brightened up when Cleo broached another topic, as was indicated by an increased liveliness in the movements of her tail.

Oh, you get to choose which one happens~ When you log out you get to choose whether you want to completely disconnect or have your body go to sleep. I don't think it makes much difference, although most Travelers choose to completely disconnect~ However, I think that when a friendly innkeeper offers you a bed for free it's only polite to actually make use of it~

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

With a gesture of the druidess' hand, Vina's clothes vanished and the woman was left there nude, leaving Cleo momentarily stunned at just how bold this stranger was, before she decided to politely look away. She had no way of knowing if the girl had modified her avatar much, but on the off chance that she hadn't, then Cleo had no desire to be caught staring at what was essentially somebody's actual nude body. Still, it was incredibly brave to just strip down in front of a person that she'd just met, so Cleo had to wonder if the girl was alright. Very few people, after all, grew this comfortable with somebody so soon when they had been strangers no more than a few minutes ago.

Well, unless the druid was just a nudist. Her clothes hadn't covered all that much anyway.

Still, the girl's own hair and tail acted as censorship enough for her to at least glance in Vina's direction whilst they spoke. And hey, lo and behold, the girl had taken part in previous events, so maybe she could help Cleo put together something of a timeline for things that had happened before they'd managed to cut off the servers and send everybody, except the deceased, back into the real world. It was also news to know that the players had learned of the three death thing back then and continued.

Still, she allowed the change in topic, noting the way that Vina's tail showcased how the girl's mood had brightened, filing that information away for later. It'd be useful to be able to read the girl's emotional state and maybe even tell if Vina was trying to lie to her, so it was probably important to start building something of a psychological profile of the girl. The druid would probably be a pretty good first link in her information network.

So if you can choose, what incentive is there to just leave the body as it is? It sounds like you'd be taking something of a risk unless you're logging off somewhere you know beyond a doubt is safe.

Then she paused, humming as she thought of how to word her next question, a finger pressed to her chin as she mulled it over, before she shrugged. Vina seemed mature enough to handle any question that could be thrown at her.

So how realistic is this game? I know things bleed and that even players have to eat and drink. Do we have to use the bathroom? Bathe? Is it possible to actually sleep, without logging out? What about things like sex or intoxication?

@Vina Skysong

 

[Vina Skysong]

If Vina felt any discomfort at revealing her nude form to another person, someone she'd known for less than an hour, she didn't show it. Truthfully, that kind of thing wasn't really important to her: she thought she had quite a nice body, so why should she feel bad about other people seeing it? She knew that most people would say something about feeling exposed or something, so maybe she was just an exhibitionist. Not that it was really relevant.

She let out a brief hum as Cleo asked her question, her fingers drumming on the windowsill. A reason why you'd choose to let your body remain asleep in the virtual world...

I don't think there's any real benefit to it. Your rest meter fills up either way, which is why most Travelers choose to disconnect completely. It might avoid some difficult questions from the People of the Land, and it feels a bit more natural? Logging back in after you've let your body sleep feels a bit more like waking up~

She tapped her chin briefly.

I can't really think of any reason why you'd do it other than immersion. Maybe you're sleeping together with someone and you don't want to leave them alone~

As Cleo considered her next question Vina closed her eyes and faced the open air once more, planting her hands on the windowsill and pushing herself up so her entire upper body was exposed to the night sky. With it being so late at night it wasn't like anybody would see her, and it did feel very nice. Of course, when her room partner asked her next question the druidess returned her attention, looking at Cleo over her shoulder. Rather than being embarrassed by the question, she let out a soft laugh and winked.

I've yet to hear of anyone suffering consequences for not going to the bathroom, but to all the other things the answer is yes~ Now that you've mentioned it, I'll have to take a bath tomorrow. Sleeping in this world is the same as sleeping in our own, and you won't be logged out either. And intoxication is considered a type of poison, which means you can quickly sober up if you've got some healing magic available~

Her eyelids lowered a bit after that, her gaze smouldering for a moment as a mischievous glint shone in those azure orbs.

As for sex... I can personally attest to that being in the game~

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

So allowing the body to remain behind asleep was really just a feature that was included for immersion? She couldn't hear, from the explanation given, any real reason that anybody would actually do that, so it did make sense that most players just chose not to. After all, it probably wasn't all that common that a player would be sleeping next to somebody that wasn't also just going to log out and vanish alongside them. Well, actually, now that she thought about it, perhaps the system for leaving the avatar behind was necessary for the system to actually UI lock a player after they had died three times?

Maybe it was necessary to help keep the UI locked players sane?

As for the answers to the other set of questions she'd asked, well, it was nice to know that she wasn't going to be needing to use the restroom in game and that she could sober up quickly if there was any kind of healing magic available, though needing to bathe was definitely an interesting notion. Better to learn that whilst she was brand new and hadn't had a chance to get dirty and stink yet. Probably had just saved her reputation some damage by asking that question, which may very well be a far more important thing than people would think, given how important connections were going to be.

And as for that last comment, well, Cleo flushed slightly, glancing away.

Ah, I see. Well then, good for you, I suppose. I don't know if it'd be too forward to ask if it is comparable to the real thing?

God what a weird conversation to be having with a stranger. A stranger that had been weirdly seductive about her answer at that, too. She supposed for most people, it was just a game, meant for fun. Perhaps for some, that included sex?

Ah nevermind, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to. I just certainly never expected the realism to go far enough to include that kind of thing, too...

@Vina Skysong

 

[Vina Skysong]

Vina's smile widened a little bit as Cleo seemed to be embarrassed by the vixen's answer. She did love to tease people, even if she never meant any harm with it. Cleo herself was quite beautiful, and if her avatar looked even remotely similar to her real self Vina would be willing to bet that she was no stranger to sex, even if she still found talking about it with a stranger a bit awkward.

Thanks~ And yes, it's pretty much the same~

She turned around as she said that, now facing the open window with her back, leaning her lower torso against the windowsill, and resting her hands on it to help support her.

Also, for the bathroom thing, I kind of did it habitually anyway, so you'd have to ask someone else to know for sure. But yes, they really did go for maximum realism: even if your body is completely different from what you look like on Earth, you feel everything as if it was real~ I haven't checked it since the servers went back online, but before the shutdown, you had to enable mature mode in the settings.

She looked down at her own body.

Given that it allowed me to remove everything including my underwear, I'm guessing either my settings haven't changed or everyone is now automatically in mature mode~ You could check for yourself if you want.

Vina didn't think Cleo would do that while the vixen was present, but it was something the lancer could keep in mind for later.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Ah well, that was at least some new information: The ability to appear nude and such was an option that had to be toggled on. What on earth was the reasoning behind that, in a game that killed people? It wasn't like they were scared of having their game banned or censored for nudity of all things, so it just didn't make sense to limit or give people control over that kind of thing. And yet, surely enough, with a flick of her wrist and a few hand gestures, she found the option that Vina was referencing and switched mature mode on, narrowing her eyes at the menu for a moment. She didn't feel any different and nothing appeared any different. What the hell was the point of a 'mature mode' if it only applied to your own body and not to anybody else's?

Ah well, I suppose in that case the developers really do need to be praised for their adherance to realism. And for the record, that information is quite useful. I didn't bother changing my appearance at all, so I didn't know that things that're different still feel completely real.

She quickly flicked to her inventory. Before, when she unequipped her armor, it left her in what the game referred to as 'smallclothes' instead of revealing any kind of nudity. Now, as she pressed unequip, she noticed with a tiny gasp that there was nothing on her body and that she was staring down at nothing but her own flesh. A few finger movements and her armor was equipped again, allowing the lancer to sigh in relief. Hopefully Vina hadn't been watching that.

Seems that the option is very much still there, though what the point of it is when it doesn't censor other people, escapes me. In fact, why they bothered adding a filter to a game that has the problems that this game has, is beyond me.

@Vina Skysong

 

[Vina Skysong]

Vina watched as Cleo gestured in the air, clearly interacting with her menu in search for the mature mode that the vixen had mentioned. From the looks of it she'd found it quite quickly. The silver-haired druidess tilted her had as the other female explained that she hadn't altered her appearance at all.

I see~ Well, I'm much the same, although I decided that if I was given the opportunity I wanted to play a fox~

She wiggled her vulpine ears for emphasis. Aside from being a foxkin beastfolk Vina's appearance was identical to her real self, putting her in the same boat as Cleo.

It looked like Cleo wasn't done exploring the menu and the mature mode yet. Vina's azure eyes had already been looking at the undercover agent when suddenly all clothing disappeared from the red-haired beauty's body, granting Vina a glimpse of a truly enviable body before her companion quickly put her armour back on. A quiet chuckle escaped her lips as Cleo seemed to want to move on from that tiny mishap.

I can see why you didn't feel the need to change your appearance in any way~ And if I remember correctly, the main feature of having mature mode turned off was that you couldn't touch or be touched in a sexual manner. I wouldn't know myself, but there might also have been something that children couldn't deactivate it?

She couldn't deny Cleo's point though. In a game where death could result in psychological torture, or even getting stuck in the game as your body on Earth stopped functioning, the idea that the developers had still thought to allow players to partially avoid sexual content was rather strange. How was that for priorities?

Well, I think most adults players turned the maturity filter off even if they weren't planning to sleep with anyone~ Same as with the action assist function: in a game as immersive as this, most people want to push that immersion as far as it can go. That's what VR was supposed to promise us, after all.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Why did the druid have to make flirtatious remarks at every passing opportunity that presented itself? Cleo hummed, listening to the girl and taking the compliment without thanks or complaint, instead choosing to listen to Vina's understanding of the mature mode feature and what it even did outside of make nudity possible. It made a strange amount of sense, but when she thought about it for more than one moment or two, the fact that it made sense, when put into context, actually stopped making sense. Or, well, it at least gave her a tiny bit of insight into how the developers of this game thought.

So they're okay with their game murdering people and leaving them mentally scarred, but not okay with including children in sexual content. I suppose the developers have some kind of moral line that they refuse to cross, then...

She hummed, making a mental note of that, though she had no clue how much the VRSA actually knew about the game's features, such as mature mode and being able to enable nudity. Still, she'd be leaving the feature turned on, considering that it likely wouldn't come up. She had no intentions of unequipping her armor around people or being touched in any kind of sexual manner, if she could ever possibly avoid it.

So do you think the most common reason that people play this game is that sense of immersion that you're talking about, then? They enable mature mode and disable the action assistance just to make the world feel more realistic to them than it already is?

Speaking of the action assist mode, she opened her palm menu again and flicked through the settings until she could disable her own action assist. If that was how most players played, then she needed to understand it in order to get the most honest experience as possible.

So, we match in that we never altered our appearances during character creation? Well, aside from your race, that is. I have to say that you're incredibly pretty.

@Vina Skysong

 

[Vina Skysong]

The vulpine druidess nodded in response to Cleo, idly kicking the wall with the heel of one foot.

It definitely sounds like that, doesn't it? But it makes me wonder what purpose the UI-lock serves. It's hard to believe they would include that while banning underage sexual content unless there was a reason why they needed the UI-lock to exist.

Perhaps the UI-lock was the entire reason why the game existed. But that still wouldn't explain why the developers needed or wanted, to lock people into the game. Vina had considered that it was some social experiment, to see how people reacted to such a situation, but she was pretty sure that if that was the case the experiment violated all the ethical guidelines that social and psychological experiments had to follow.

One of her ears twitched as she listened to Cleo's thoughtful humming. It wasn't melodious and lyrical like her own, since the lancer wasn't trying to produce music, but she still had a nice voice to listen to. Given that her new friend seemed to be thinking deeply about all this Vina would stay quiet until after Cleo spoke up again.

The question about what motivated people to play this game made Vina tilt her head.

It's the best explanation I can think of~ Other games allow you to play a hero or an adventurer, but Terrasphere is the only way to feel like you're actually in a world of fantasy~ If someone just wanted to fight a dragon there are hundreds of other games they could play which lack Terrasphere's downsides.

Another chuckle escaped her when Cleo complimented her looks, her tail wagging for a moment behind her before it calmed down again. Vina did like being complimented, even if she was just as happy to compliment others.

Thank you very much~ Of course, back on Earth it takes some work to keep this kind of figure, but I think it's well worth the effort. I imagine it's much the same for you, with how beautiful you are~

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

It truly is quite hard to understand why they would create the UI lock when they had a game that would have been such an impossible success that their names would have gone down in the history books.

She could not think of any good reason for a system that killed the player and locked them into the game to exist, no matter what kind of logic anybody tried to string together. There just wasn't a good explanation for it, her mind couldn't conjure one. The thought processes that had to go behind that kind of decision, if it had happened on purpose, were far too alien for the agent to understand. It was, it seemed, something of a time for deep thought, which Vina seemed to appreciate as she refrained from speaking until Cleo had managed to gather her thoughts enough to speak.

Right, I did notice that there really seemed to be no driving plot for a player to latch onto, so it does make sense that the immersion in the setting itself would be the largest draw for the playerbase. And it does fit with this strange design focus all around the immersive elements of the game experience.

She laced her fingers together underneath her chin in thought, before she shrugged and leaned back, her hands planted on the bed behind her to hold her body upright as she kicked her legs. Seemed the conversation was turning to a different topic, so it was time to engage in small talk for the purposes of building a rapport with a potential source of information. Vina was nice, of course, if particularly heavy handed with compliments.

You'd be correct, though luckily I'm at a position in life where I can afford to spend time and effort maintaining my figure and such. Even if I'm starting to become something of an old maid...

@Vina Skysong

 

[Vina Skysong]

There wasn't much left for either of them to say about the madness that was the UI-lock. Just like Cleo, Vina was baffled in her attempts at figuring out why anyone would turn a wonderful world into a death game, and thinking about it for too long was more likely to upset her than lead her to any new insights. This was hardly the first time she'd thought about it, after all: she'd had more than four years to wonder.

It's really a shame.

Of course, it was more than just a shame: it was a horror.

Vina let out a hum of her own as she considered Cleo's response, looking up at the ceiling as she cast her thoughts back to over four years ago, before the shutdown.

Not a plot in the sense that there's some story the game wants to tell you, no~ But I think before the shutdown there was a plot of sorts, but one created by the arrival of us Travelers. For example, this village lies within the territory of Falderen, which was the bastion of human civilization back then. Its domain reached quite a bit to the west, but when we Travelers arrived we took western Falderen and renamed it Astorea, a nation under the control of Travelers.

While she did know about what had happened, she hadn't taken part in it herself. The vixen gave a light shrug.

It sounds hostile, but Falderen was persecuting the elves in that region so the Travelers decided to step up and protect them. I only arrived later, but I was here when the former king of Falderen tried to regain control over Astorea by force.

Her expression grew a bit more somber as she thought back to that. War was truly an unpleasant experience, and that was an understatement. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly as she expelled those darker thoughts.

Anyway~! Immersion is definitely one of the reasons we continue to play, but I also want to keep people from getting seriously hurt. Games are supposed to be fun, after all~

It seemed like Cleo was joining Vina in taking a more relaxed position, the vixen smiling happily even as she blinked.

You look young and healthy to me, and isn't that what matters~? As long as you take good care of yourself you don't need to worry much about age~

Age affected your health, but you could counteract that if you worked for it. Of course, it didn't work forever, but Vina was certain that Cleo wasn't remotely old enough for that to be a pressing concern.

But if you call yourself a maid, does that mean you're on the lookout for a relationship?

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Well that was news to her, that the players had taken an entire region and created their own city, seemingly to protect the rights of elves or something? It was odd that people who were humans themselves in reality would take the side of a non-human people, but she supposed that there was still enough of a separation from reality, or there had been back then, for the players to not really have to worry about their own human selves and could make whatever decisions they wanted, seemingly free from any kind of consequences, aside from a subsequent landgrab from the people they'd taken the land from in the first place.

Sounds like it was quite the intense experience, though I had no clue that players could build things such as an entire city or something like that? That is quite impressive I suppose, even if it did result in war.

A war that likely started many players down the path to losing their actual lives, though she left that fact unsaid. Vina seemed emotionally intelligent enough to have figured that particular fact out herself without needing it spelled out, so all saying it out loud would have done would be upset the druid, which was far from what Cleo wanted when her aim was to create something of a positive contact.

I do try to keep in good condition, yes. I suppose it's made me feel and look a bit younger than I actually am, though in the end I highly doubt I'll be able to defeat the passing of time itself.

She wondered, did people have to worry about aging in this game? Was that one of the big draws, to experience an eternally young and energetic body? She could see the appeal if so, knowing that the years to come would only further degrade her body. As for looking for a relationship, Cleo shrugged.

I haven't really given it much thought. I suppose it would be nice, I've been single for a very long time now. I'm the type of person that you could consider to have been married to her goal. Now that I've achieved it, it's a case of figuring out what the next step is.

She paused, sighing. It was only going to get harder to find a relationship as she aged, especially with such little experience to draw upon.

What about yourself? Somebody so young and open surely must be taken?

@Vina Skysong

 

[Vina Skysong]

Oh yes, that surprised me as well, but there's a lot of things you can do in this world~ After all, if you've got the geomancy mastery you can create permanent structures, even if it does cost more energy and effort. The same goes for nature magic~

Vina found talking about the non-violent ways of playing this game more relaxing than thinking back to that war between Astorea and Falderen, or any of the other tragic things that had happened. Her posture was also more relaxed, although she made sure to keep a steady grip on the windowsill so she wouldn't lean too far back and fall.

There are also players who decide to become farmers, politicians, or doctors instead of adventurers. Terrasphere really lets you do almost anything you might want to do~ As for time...

She clacked her tongue.

Nothing lasts forever, but I'm sure you've got many years left before you have to worry about that~ Better to enjoy the present~ And hey, if we're really lucky there'll be a breakthrough in healthcare and we'll be able to live even longer~!

While Cleo claimed to not really have been thinking about entering a relationship, Vina thought she detected some amount of longing in the red-haired lancer's behaviour. When the question was turned back to herself, however, the druidess let out a soft laugh before shaking her head.

I'm not really looking. I'm having fun with my current life, and while a relationship might be nice I'm worried that I wouldn't be able to spend as much time with my friends~ On that note, if you ever want to hang out, just hit me up~

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Well that was something interesting to know. Structures and objects created using certain acts of magic could be made to be permanent if the user wished for them to be. By the sounds of things, it was a very real possibility for somebody to make a life for themselves within the game, which honestly made the UI lock thing slightly more disturbing. If it was so possible to live a happy, full, real life inside of this game, then was it possible that the only thing that the developers wanted to do was be the gods of their own world and keep people in that world once they had them there?

After all, nothing was more real than death, right?

She shook that thought off, fighting it away so that she could maintain a pleasant enough mood to not scare away a contact so early on in the process. It was much easier to just allow the conversation to keep flowing, even if the topic wasn't quite remaining as constructive and useful to her investigation as it could be. She had time to work out these things. It would take longer if she ruined her connections by being unable to act as if she was just a player looking to enjoy herself.

It'd be nice to remain younger for longer, yes. Though I have to say that it's a surprise that you're not looking for a relationship. I remember at your age that finding a relationship sometimes felt like it could be a big deal. If I hadn't been focused on work and training, I probably would have been focused on finding a relationship.

Though it was definitely a valid concern that Vina had. All too often she'd seen friendships slowly crumble into dust because one of them had just gotten into a new relationship and suddenly lost the time to connect with friends. It had happened to her a few times, a few school friendships vanished into nothing but memory, thanks to people going through the honeymoon phase.

It would be nice to consider you a friend though. Here, let me just send you this...

With a wrist flick and a few finger movements, a friend request was sent to Vina, Cleo looking to the druid and shooting the vulpine woman a small, friendly smile. Contact had been made and her circle of unknowing informants was growing. This wasn't such a bad thing after all...

@Vina Skysong

 

[Vina Skysong]

Vina gave a light shrug in response to Cleo's words. She knew that other people often made a big deal about relationships and having one, but the vulpine druidess had never been too focused on that kind of thing.

It's different for everyone. I'm happy with my life right now, and I've still got plenty of time left if I do decide that I want to be with someone~ Besides, it's important that everyone can live their lives the way they want to live them, isn't it? It would be a real shame if everyone had to go through the same routine of getting married after finishing education, even if they've got other things they want to do instead.

The two of them had only known each other for less than a day, so there was no guarantee that Cleo would accept Vina's offer of friendship. However, the vixen still made the offer, and her ears perked up when the other female returned the gesture and even went so far as to send her a friendship request. She'd quickly accept it, adding Cleo to her list of friends even as she answered her friend's smile with a bright expression of joy of her own.

I'll happily call you a friend as well Cleo~! But I am curious: you said that you're married to your goal and that you achieved it. What have you been working on so hard then?

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Well, I'd say that the only important caveat is that people shouldn't live the way they want to live if that way involves hurting or making others miserable, but yes, it is quite important for people to be true to themselves.

Of course, there were always exceptions to the rules and Cleo wasn't quite extremist enough to believe that everybody, regardless of their intentions, deserved to be able to live the way that they wanted to live. Still, it was at least a noble way of looking at things and it told her a lot about the gentle nature of the foxgirl in front of her, that she valued people doing as they pleased and not just going with the things that were expected of her.

Still, the agent couldn't help but smirk as her friend invite was accepted and Vina's name showed up on her friend's list, the vixen's ears perking up. Though Vina did seem to have a question that Cleo had been expecting, it was quite common to ask a new acquaintance about something like their goals or dreams for the future. Talking about plans was, she'd found, probably the easiest thing in the world to do so she'd been expecting that particular conversation topic. She leaned back, sighing as her legs swung and she kicked at the air.

I was one of those people that basically knew what career they wanted from day one and did essentially everything possible to achieve it. Every decision I ever made was in service to achieving that goal, so now that I've done it, I suppose you could say I'm scrambling for things to do.

She chuckled, shaking her head as she looked down at her lap. It did make a decent cover story as to why she'd started playing this game. All the best cover stories had some nugget of truth in them, after all.

It's why I bothered to pick this game up knowing how dangerous it is. I figure I can maybe get good enough to help keep people safe.

@Vina Skysong