Complete Eastern Brisshal Lady & Knight

[Hanno Futaba]

"Eeeeeek--!" The brand new player limped, nearly falling while he held onto a tree, soon turning to press his back against it, staring horrified at the horde of nearly a dozen of goblins surrounding him with their crude weapons, devilish laughter, and malicious smirks. Not every newbie had the luck of getting into the game in safe conditions, after all a random spawn wasn't the most reliable mechanic possible, something that of course that death game didn't care about at all.

Without being able to log off or even switch pain meters from his UI Menu, the player could only watch helplessly as the creatures approached, with the throbbing bruise on his thigh being a dire reminder that things were going to get really dire very soon. The greenskins exchanged glares and growls, with each of them desiring to be the first one to get their hands on the victim, until one bolder and uncaring one charged ahead without thinking, raising its club for an incoming attack that made the player recoil and clench his eyes shut.

But in the last moment, a ruthless force appeared, dragging the hostile goblin and trampling it like a bull charging against an unwarned victim. The enormous shield in front of the faerin made the sight even more iconical, knocking the goblin away like a ragdoll while sounds of bones cracking and snapping could be heard coming from the punny monster.

Huffing, Hanno turned to face the other many remaining goblins, being an obstacle between the goblins and the newbie, that now opened his eyes to see the much smaller knight and the shield that towered him, with tentacles wiggling from its sides.

"Wh-What..." The newbie swallowed, then pursed his lips when noticing a huge eye opening on the back of the shield, looking at him and narrowing in the same way an eye squinted when someone smiled.

"Are you alright, buddy?" Hanno asked, focusing his sight on the goblins, that were way too many even for someone of his level. Of course, he could defeat them all, but could he block all of them from getting to the newbie? Hardly. "You better be, because things will get reaaaally messy, and you will need to run away." He warned, hoping that the hesitation of the goblins would last long enough for the newbie to make a decision.

"I-I don't think I can-" The newbie held his thigh, making Hanno take a deep breath. Things were really going to need to be in the hard way?

@Lady N

 

[Lady N]

Lady & Knight

Eastern Brisshal.

According to what she knew, this was the safest place to train for new players, which made sense considering it was also where players first spawned. This was why Chelsea had decided to go give the N Suit a short test run again. After all the ridiculous madness of the red fever debacle. The young woman felt it was important to make sure everything was working correctly.

The enemies would probably be some wolves. It would be quick and she could test her close-range reaction if she avoided using her N Slicers. Chelsea had been just traveling by foot, ungeared waiting to find a good spot to gear up. Honestly, she never really came up with a name for her "transformation" if you could call it that, when suddenly...

"Eeeeeek--!"

That was not a howl.

Boo.

Was a stupid at it again? This was the starter area, no way... then again goblins proved how much this death trap cared about conventions. Chelsea broke into a short sprint just to see what was happening as the noises became louder. There was obviously a fight going on. Then she saw them...

"...Goblins."

There were others, all looked like players considering their poor equipment, except for one... what on earth was that thing? A shield... that was alive?

Chelsea touched her bracelet, bright vector lines enveloped her body in the shape of her gear. Within seconds she was now ninja running at twice her original speed, her twintail thrusters pulled back behind her and emitting a single burst of force when she leaped into the air over the treetops...

Only to land between a group of annoying, badly balanced greenskins and spun her thruster plates like blades propelling them away. She completed the spin with a fall onto her knee and fired an N Slicer at one's neck to behead the ugly thing, but her aim failed her. Instead, it removed his arm and that made the goblin quite annoyed at her as well...

"Tsk..."

Damn it, she had already used a ranged attack and her aim was off.

Sigh...

At least she wasn't laughing like a moron this time.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

With time ticking, it didn't take long for the not-very-smart goblins to realize that despite the newcomer being much tougher looking than their initial target, they were still outnumbering him. Another exchange of glances settled it, and just as soon as they were going to make their move, a shriek of pain followed by an arm landing on the ground caught the horde's attention.

Hanno blinked surprised, shifting his attention toward the young woman that had just appeared, so quickly that her presence was unnoticed until now.

A DPS? With those looks, she was certainly a player. A veteran at it.

The goblins behaviors changed once again, with the wounded one gritting its fangs and screaming as it charged at the woman with other few goblins, something Hanno had to intervene somehow.

"Ghast, make sure to keep this guy safe!" He told the shield, that rumbled while being pushed to cover most of the newbie's body with its wide surface and tentacles, something that was met with a disgusted scowl from the scared guy that slipped a brief "Ew-". But honestly, that was his best bet for survival.

Without his shield, Hanno charged barefisted, roaring and releasing a threatening aura that taunted most of the goblins, hoping to leave more room for the woman to defend herself and attack with more ease.

"Not sure who you are, buddy-"

Throwing himself at a goblin with a body slam, Hanno opened himself to receive a blow on his back, making him groan and notice another incoming attack, this one being successfully parried and countered with an arm throw that crushed the creature against the ground.

With a grunt, he recovered his stance and added: "- But thanks for the help!"

@Lady N

 

[Lady N]

Lady & Knight

The goblins were enraged pretty quickly. So much for it being based on health as reports stated. Chelsea would have to make sure that was revised later.

The man with the giant eye shield left his shield behind and prevented the Nexon from getting struck during her staring at said shield. That shield... was an ally right? Shaking her head, she dodged two goblins coming from her sides and almost slammed into the man from the force of her momentum.

"Not sure who you are, buddy-"

"...Buddy? Don't get ahead of yourself."

Chelsea kicked the downed goblin hard that was just brought down by her not at all companion. The goblin's body collided with another rising greenskin and the two collapsed on each other.

"Hahaha...! How do you like that you stupid gobs! Do you like falling all over yourselves like dunderheaded losers!?"

Oh no, Chelsea saw the two goblins retreat but was too stunned by her words she didn't react to the one last goblin who slammed her with his own shield and prepared to smash it's spike down unto her as she lay sprawled on the ground giggling.

Notice

Emotion Energy is in Discord.
Please Replace Core Drive 2 or achieve stabilization via Another Unit until replaced.

​

The notice flashed on a screen that appeared on its own right in her face.

"...BOOO get out of my face stupid screen!! Pfft I' can't see hahaha the go-""

The greenskin's shield swung down.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

At the woman's response and sudden approach that nearly slammed into him, Hanno whistled while raising his eyebrows. "Whew- Take it easy. You are helpin' me out, so you gotta be a buddy." He flashed a friendly grin at her, though part of his attention shifted to the shield and the newbie it covered.

So far Ghast was managing to keep the goblins away, but the shield by herself couldn't hold the goblins back eternally, she could only buy them time.

The young woman's attack then caught his attention, seeing the goblin bowling with an impressed expression, albeit the brief moment Hanno took to glance at the situation was enough for things to get even more complicated. With a goblin going past his taunt and defenses and managing to hit the woman that was clearly more to the glass cannon archetype.

"Shit-" Hanno's friendly expression turned into a scowl and a glare at the hostile goblin that was ready to slam its shield on the Lady.

He interjected quickly, sweeping the goblin's foot and grabbing its head while it was falling, forcing it downwards to smash its skull against the ground. "Are you alright-?!" Hanno asked, frowning when watching the woman giggling uncontrollably. Was she affected by some laughing poison the goblin's had or something?

"Arrgh!"

Once again being distracted, a slam came from behind, with a goblin shield bashing his back, and another going straight for a blow with its club, hitting the side of his head and making a loud clank on his metal headdress, causing his ears to ring with a thin scarlet trail running down his head.

@Lady N

 

[Lady N]

Lady & Knight

Need to focus and get this suit off as soon as possible!

As Chelsea thought this the man interfered with the goblin's shield bashing plans. Only to end up receiving a similar attack from behind.

"YEESH there are so many of you! Hahaha, go awaaaaay!"

Aiming up from the ground she fired more N Slicers no longer caring much for energy consumption or her original goal of avoiding distance attacks for close-range testing. The goblin was quickly torn into threads as the discs went to work.

Returning to her feet, she grabbed a hold of the man's collar and tried to drag him out of the way but she was not the strongest so she would use her a hair plate as a shield to block the club wielder. Afterward it looked more like this "Hanno" (according to her investigation mode) was now her shield as she fired around him at the remaining goblins.

Finally... they were either dead or had retreated, for now.

"YESSS That's the way, now hahaha... I have GOT to get out of this stupid pfft contraption!"

Letting the man go and deactivating her suit, she would fall to her knees breathing hard before looking back, at her not at all combat partner with a glare. The difference in facial expressions would be jarring if he was likely not more concerned with his head wound.

"You... you need to be careful of goblins. They are obviously too much for you so now look at yourself."

As for that other useless stupid. Yeesh...

Standing again, Chelsea would quietly focus on her stats. Ignoring Hanno and the other guy. Although she would occasionally glance to look at them for no reason whatsoever.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

This was probably one of the weirdest combats Hanno has ever got into during his patrolling. With the newbie screaming all scared while his shield protected them from the goblins, a young woman laughing maniacally and shooting blades at a dangerous rate, and him having to watch all of this while remotely dizzy.

Hanno could swear he had just seen a piece of a goblin flying around just before he felt a tug on his collar. At first, he resisted it, but after seeing it was just the woman plotting something out, he allowed himself to be dragged away while she used him as a meat shield. Honestly, easiest tanking attempt ever.

Soon, the goblins were gone and his collar was released, "W-Woah..." Hanno blinked, holding his head and shaking it while the dizziness quickly faded, thanks to his endurance. The joyful face of the woman was gone just as quickly as it appeared, making Hanno puzzled for a moment. "U-Uh... Yeah... Thanks for the pull, that helped me to snap back-" Hanno said, adjusting his scarf and wiping the trail of blood on his forehead before he looked at the shield and the newbie, approaching both of them before picking it up and looking at the man, who was now safe and sound. "Hey! The goblins are gone now, so-"

"Oh, thank god! Fuck this game, I knew it was a bad idea to download this thing-!" The newbie said, hurriedly opening the UI before suddenly disappearing, leaving Hanno with a half open mouth and a frown, just before he shrugged.

"Well, now that was a guy I didn't need to convince to leave." He chuckled, turning to the Lady. "And you, buddy? You look fairly strong yourself, you patrol the area too?" Hanno asked, looking at her attentively, trying to spot if she was hurt.

@Lady N

 

[Lady N]

Lady & Knight

"Leaving., For once someone has the right idea. You should consider joining him."

It may have sounded mean, as most things the short girl said might. However, it was the truth. Playing this death trap was just the same as driving blind on a mountainside road.

Look strong? Chelsea thought about how she compared to others, also it was not her strength but rather the N-Suit that was strong, she could not even defeat a goblin when she only had her own gadgetry back at the start.

A Nexon, relying on technology they did not develop, no wonder she was dealing with the corrupted system now.

Finishing her stat check, Chelsea closed her UI.

*Stare*

She would just look at him for several moments. There was little more to say after all, but since she knew his name and he did not know hers (taken from the endless "buddy" comments). Then she would offer him that much, and maybe he'd go away.

"Lady N... since you are too stupid to investigate that yourself, hmph! You can stop saying buddy now."

A short nod of her head in agreement with her belief of this as fact.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno half nodded at her statement. Certainly, he should be wiser and leave for good as well... But there was still a lot he had to do.

Before he could answer anything about it, her sudden rude retort caught his attention, but he didn't lose his cool.

"I am not sure how your Investigation works, but mine only shows the name of those who tell me their names," Hanno said, tilting his head for a moment and crossing his arms.

"Unless we met before? If so, I am sorry. It has been four years after all." Hanno chuckled sheepishly before offering a hand to her.

"If not, then it is a pleasure to meet'cha, Lady N. Or N, or just Lady. Whichever you prefer." He grinned. "Mine is Hanno, not stupid. Though I am known as the latter sometimes." Hanno added comically before shaking his head.

"I can't leave just yet either. I have to make sure people don't die in this game." He said.

@Lady N

 

[Lady N]

Lady & Knight

As the man talked rather than left, Chelsea eyed the giant shield that was now certainly his. It was weird but, so was her own equipment if one thought about it. There were things in this game that felt like they worked outside even what the game thought was normal at a base level.

VRS had a lot more data collecting to do.

"...I didn't create the name with much care. This game was stupid then and now it's a death trap and stupid, tsk.."

A small flush of the cheeks when she remembered how stupid her username was. Folding her arms now, her expression returned to cool.

"Hanno. ...If you die protecting them... really die. Is that something you are okay with? Trying to keep stupids alive only makes you one eventually."

She thought of her own actions during the Kurungaar Mother. Chelsea was not as strong as Hanno may have thought from their encounter here. Nor was she the best communicator for her warning efforts.

At least he stopped saying buddy.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Noticing the mild embarrassment of the woman, Hanno chuckled faintly. "Don't worry. It sounds cool. And at least it isn't something like xXDarkSlayerXx or whatever thing that a teenager in fifth grade makes." Now, would it be funny that a stoic-looking woman had such a silly username? Yes. It would.

At Lady N's question, Hanno crossed his arms just like she did, pausing to think for a moment and tilting his head. "Well... Of course, I'm not okay with dying. Ask a cop or a firefighter from our world out there, they are probably not okay either." Hanno said, half-shrugging.

"It is less that I'm okay with it, and more that I'm ready to go this far. They may be stupid, but they don't deserve to die just because of it." He explained, looking at the woman before his expressions shifted to something more akin to worry.

"... Why do you play this game then? Are you... Locked?" Hanno asked, pursing his lips.

@Lady N

 

[Lady N]

Lady & Knight

A firefighter?
A cop?

...It really has reached that point. Where some silly video game was now just another part of the world and needed to be treated as such. Virtual reality was never supposed to be something like that. Moderation and security from hacking yes, but never life and death in such a real way. Chelsea's father would never have allowed something like that to come into being.

Whoever did was the worst kind of human imaginable.

"Okay. I don't plan to know why you would put those that care for you in real life over those who don't know you at all. ...But it's your decision."

Then came the question she hated.
Why was SHE here?

Boo.

"Tsk, I would never be so stupid. ...I... "

In real life, if she was behind her desk in her office at Virtual Reality Strategy, she would have a good simple answer for this.

Not here, not now.

"It's none of your business anyway."

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"I already saw firsthand what this mess of a game can do to a family. I'd rather if it didn't happen to as many people as possible. Besides, I told you I am ready, not that I have any intentions of dying." Hanno said, averting his eyes for a moment, reminding himself of the face Sean's father, just how miserable and devastated he looked for losing his son.

The momentary somber emotion that crawled in his chest faded slowly as Lady N revealed, in her own way, that she didn't get locked.

Relief crossed the face of the faerin, that looked at her with a small smile. "I see, that's good." He nodded. "Hey, isn't it fair to tell me since I've told you my reasons?" Hanno teased a bit, not really sounding demanding about it, but hoping to get some answers if that was enough for her to spill the beans.

@Lady N

 

[Lady N]

Lady & Knight

Tsk, persistent.

That did seem to be a common trait many of the players that kept participating in this death trap possessed. That and sheer recklessness. It made a reserved girl like Chelsea cringe inside every time. If there was one emoji to describe her entire time in this game, facepalm would be the one.

This man wasn't the weakest fighter and wanted to face death for his own reasons...

Another one she would be powerless to stop.

"...Self preservation matters. Without it, you can't help anyone. As for me I.."

She had no intention of sharing her reasons or feelings with this person. So instead he would receive a moment of silence before she would begin to walk away. If he was anyone actually worth seeing as an ally, she would give him an hint of how deep the rabbit hole goes.

"There are a lot of stupids that think as you do. Some... actually try to be smart about things. Connections outside of this killer program are one way to improve survival. Including spreading as much knowledge as one can. You can continue to protect the weak here but some of us want this entire thing shut down."

She thought about something that weird Magia, Tristaria once said.

Break the game so it's unplayable.

Unfortunately, she did not have a clue how to do that yet. Perhaps someday she might.

With that, Chelsea would log out for the day.
Perhaps she should try another side of Brisshal next time...

<Exits>

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno smirked at her words.

"I've heard that before, yeah. And I keep these words in mind." He said, noticing that he wouldn't really receive any answers regarding what Lady N was doing around, despite being so much against the idea of continuing to stay around.

Perhaps she was like Cleo... But even Cleo was similar to Hanno in this regard.

"Connections outside, huh-" Hanno muttered, becoming even more intrigued about it and taking a step forward before trying to call her, but instead, she simply disappeared.

"Really now..." He sighed, crossing his arms and casting a glance in the direction of the tree the newbie had logged off. At the very least, one thing went right on that day, and that was one life being saved. The reward for it was tons of questions flooding his mind instead of satisfaction and relief that at least one more family was protected.

He turned his face to look in the direction the woman had walked off before opening his UI.

Notice

Hanno Futaba has sent you a friendship request.

@Lady N

After pressing the send button, Hanno didn't have many expectations of seeing the woman on his friend list, but one misses all the shots one doesn't take.

Another shooting star then caught the attention of the corner of Hanno's eyes, making him switch his attention and dart off toward it. There was still work to be done.