Complete ✪ Finweald The Same Mission

[Hanno Futaba]

The sun was already setting by Finweald, which meant it was the perfect time for Hanno to get into a tavern and analyze his progress for today. There were plenty of surveys, questions, and conversations, and the list didn't grow at all. Finding UI-Locked players was proving to be a bit harder than he expected, which was both good and bad news.

The good news was that it meant the UI-Locked wasn't as common as he expected.

The bad news was that he was sure there were far more UI-Locked people than the list showed, especially after Titanus battle.

Perhaps some of the UI-Locked had already given up on their past selves, and nowadays consider themselves to be Landers of the sort, lying and hiding their true identity. That could be a possibility, one that bugged his mind.

Noticing he has been overthinking, he shook his head and pushed the door open, meeting a crowded tavern that barely had any spots to sit. It wasn't ideal, considering he wished to keep the list a bit more private, but honestly at this point, after asking around so much, the list was far from a secret or anything.

Approaching a two person table that had one seat free, Hanno smiled faintly at the woman that was sitting on it. "Hey buddy, can I have a seat here? Place is kinda crowded." He asked, hoping that she wasn't going to think he was a weirdo wanting some excuse to share a table with her.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

The list of UI-locked players that have been provided to her by Levi, or well, that she'd seen him provide to somebody else and quickly made a mental note to copy it down, had proven to be pretty handy but also extremely useless. It was downright impossible to just track down the people on it, she hadn't met any of them so far, but she had managed to add a singular name to the list. It felt very much out of place to the VRSA agent, looking at the list of locked veterans and then seeing the name of the single, lone newbie that had come to a terrible fate.

She sighed, not that anybody would hear it within the tavern she'd stopped in to update her list and go over the names again, comitting each one of them to her memory as solidly as she could, a small, untouched cup of water in front of her, pushed a decent distance away to make sure that she didn't happen to spill any of it on her list and ruin it.

So far she'd managed to remain unbothered. It was probably a combination of her sharp crimson eyes and the sharp crimson spear that she had placed to the side of her, just within arm's reach in case anything started. She had thought that nobody would bother sitting near her. They'd probably choose to stand before they chose to try to share a table with her.

But it seemed she'd thought wrong, glancing up as she noticed a male approaching and smiling at her. She looked at the approaching stranger, probably some Lander, she wasn't really looking at her UI, before looking at the empty seat, shrugging.

Help yourself. I'm not expecting anybody so it's totally free if you need it.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

With the woman agreeing with him sitting, Hanno gave a grateful nod. "Thank you!" He said, taking off his enormous shield from behind his back to rest it by his side of the table, pulling the chair back and sitting on it, stretching his legs and arms slightly.

At first, he didn't really wish to bother her, so he remained quiet despite his usual social behavior. Instead, he pulled out his list and placed it on the table, keeping it mostly to himself while he took notes of potential places they could have been found and which places he had already looked for.

The secrecy of it soon went down, with the waiter coming next to him to get his order, bringing a grin back to his lips as he leaned away and pushed the list aside for a moment, giving plenty of view for the woman by accident while he spent the next minute ordering a huge pile of food all to himself (and his shield).

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

She nodded back to the man as he slid into place on the free seat, pulling some enormous shield off of his back and placing it down. The size of the shield had Cleo blinking for a moment, looking between the shield and the person that had been carrying it. Pretty big shield for a guy his size. He clearly intended to use it to defend more people than just himself. It was pretty admirable, kind of like that one superhero that only used a shield. She had to wonder what it was like to see him fight with it. Unless he just used it to block things.

She turned her attention away from him, keen to just continue focusing her attention on her own list, especially when it seemed that the guy was just as focused on some reading himself. That was fine. Probably good that she wasn't going to be distracted by some guy trying to make small talk. Luckily she'd not had to deal with anybody hitting on her yet. It probably helped that most Travelers made their avatars very attractive.

And that was when she caught a sight of the list that the stranger was reading, blinking when she caught sight of an identical list to her own, minus one name but plus a few notes next to a couple of the names that their lists shared. Cleo hummed, picking up her water to take her first swig of it, before tapping the table with the cup to get the guy's attention.

Pretty nice list you've got there. It's missing a name though. Well, if it's the list provided by Levi that makes sense. After all, I doubt he's met with or even heard of the name that isn't on the list. I doubt even he could have expected a newbie to get locked basically instantly.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

By the time Hanno had finished ordering half of the menu with the waiter, Cleo's words didn't really register right away, so he simply sighed. "Yeah. Newbies getting locked instantly are something I've been trying to-" He paused, looking at his list and then up at the woman, with his lips parting for a moment as he frowned.

"Wait, Levi gave this list to you too?" Hanno asked, surprised at first and looking at the woman that so far was just a kind stranger that allowed him to sit at her table, but now had most of his attention.

It wasn't weird that he would show it to others, he did show the list to Hanno without questioning too much, and he wasn't even part of the Lion Arms at the time. But the coincidence was still surprising. Enough surprising to get Hanno with pursing lips. "When you say... A new newbie, do you mean you know one that died three times right away..?" He asked, feeling his chest tighten for a moment.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Cleo could only mentally count down, waiting for the moment that the dude actually registered her words instead of just replying on autopilot. It wouldn't take too long, but still, was it that hard to really pay attention to her? Did he know something about the food here that she didn't or something? Because he seemed pretty fixated on it for one reason or another, if his focus on the waiter was anything to judge by.

And finally, as she was taking another sip of her water, he seemed to catch on to the fact that she had the same list as he did. Cleo nodded, holding up her own list for Hanno to see.

I got mine at pretty much the exact time you did. I vaguely recognize you from that collapsing tavern they gathered us all into to explain the death thing. I signed up with the Lion Arms after that.

She traced a finger underneath the name 'Quincy' and showed it to Hanno. He seemed pretty shaky at the information she'd given him. It had her wincing. It seemed that she was, once again, going to be the person that gave out some bad news to somebody. Nothing new there.

That's correct. A fresh face. She got real unfortunate. Pack of wolves, then there was a monster raid at a temple, then she respawned at that same temple being raided.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"So you were there too, that collapsing deal was a mess." He rubbed the back of his head, nodding slightly surprised once again.

"That means we are teammates, buddy." Hanno said, showing a faint smile to her. He also had joined Lion's Arm not too long after that introduction. In the past, he used to be a Monster Hunter, but with this game showing its true colors, his mindset changed considerably about all of it.

Being a hero? Yeah, he joined that game in the past for that, but at that time it was just a game and it was all shit and giggles. Now it was serious.

When Cleo explained what occurred, the faerin's heart broke. It was completely out of his control, in a way, just like any fatality. But as a veteran, he couldn't help but feel like it could've been avoided, if only it was in the right time, with the right person next to the newbie that was so unfortunate. "No way..." Hanno held his breath, somewhat sinking into his chair. His eyes averted for a moment, looking down as he finally released his breath. "And how and where is she right now? Do you know?" He asked, even forgetting the part where he should be introducing himself and being polite.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Cleo nodded, chuckling at the memory of her first introduction to the Lion Arms and the whole kerfuffle with the collapsing tavern roof. Though it was a pleasant surprise that they were actually teammates in the faction. That had Cleo smiling softly.

Well that's good to hear. It's always nice to meet fellow members of the Lion Arms. I'm hoping that we can do some good work together in the future.

She nodded again, though she quickly picked up when the mood began to drop, practically able to watch the Faerin's heart breaking at the news that she'd had to break to him. Meeting Quincy had been pretty hard on her too, especially since she'd had to inform the girl that she was dead in the real world and that people had been mourning her. Sometimes, Cleo just felt like her job wasn't fair and that wherever she appeared, people would be feeling sadness and despair.

She sighed.

She's sticking close to the beginner areas. I met her in Eastern Brisshal, if that means a whole lot to you? I think she's cottoned on to the fact that if she dies again, there'll be nothing left of her. I...had to be the one to inform her that being UI-locked meant that she was dead in the real world...

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno listened to Cleo's words with his chest tightening at the memories from the past coming into his mind, with a sigh escaping his as he paused and crossed his arms. "... It is tough... To think someone got caught in this without even having a chance to defend themselves. I... Unfortunately, the best we can do about her is make sure she won't be gone for good. I will patrol the Eastern Brisshal more, and if I find her, I will try to guide her on what to do next... If you didn't do this already, of course." That is if one didn't already consider them to be gone for good, labeling them as a mere NPC or a ghost inside of the game.

He looked up at Cleo, exhaling some air from his nostrils. "Four years ago, I had to do the same thing. A buddy of mine died in combat so many times that he could no longer log off." Hanno said. "At the time, no one knew what that was about, so me and other two guys agreed to go to his house so we could turn off his VR device to log him off." He told, pursing his lips.

"We only found a devastated family," Hanno said, still remembering the face of his father, filled with despair and denial.

"We can't let this keep happening." He muttered, knowing that Quincy was another girl whose the family cried and mourned about.

Leaning closer to his list, he wrote her name on it, then looking at Cleo. "I see that you didn't confirm everyone yet. You can check my list too... I found Kaede lately." He said, pushing the list closer to her.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Yeah, it's not a pleasant feeling knowing that somebody brand new got in way over their heads so quickly and nobody was around to help them out. I know I'm pretty new to this game, but I wish I could have been there to help her out. I'm no pushover after all.

She'd experienced something of a meteoric rise in power and ability, with her singleminded focus on honing her abilities, she'd managed to actually gain strength pretty quickly. Granted, she'd focused extensively on one aspect of her abilities, but that was neither here nor there.

I didn't really manage to give her any instructions. I wasn't really aware what the best next steps for her were, nor was she in any real state to have any more conversation with me. As you can imagine, the news that she was dead hit her very hard.

She could still remember smoke, escaping from Quincy's body as the girl became tense and her thoughts twisted on herself. She shook her head, banishing the memories whilst she listened to Hanno's story, eerily similar to her own, only he had been checking in on a friend and she had been investigating the issues as her job. His experience had to have been far more visceral.

She wondered if it was his first time around death?

Ah, yeah. It's actually quite hard to find these people and it's impossible to prove that somebody doesn't exist anymore.

Still, she appreciated his gesture, copying the notes from his list into her own, nodding with a grateful smile. It was nice to have found another ally in her own personal 'quest' of sorts.

I'm sorry about your friend, though. It's brave of you to come back to try to prevent more people from ending up the same. You're a good man.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno nodded quietly, it was surely an unpleasant thing to deal with, but it, unfortunately, needed to be addressed. "If anything, at least you were there for her when she most needed it. At the time she may have not understood too well due to how everything happened, but I'm sure she appreciates or will appreciate when she realizes what you have done for her." Just giving out such difficult news was already a great help, especially if she continued to put herself in danger without realizing there was no more respawn for someone like her. I was game over, very literally.

"You are no different. You just started the game in this mess of a death threat, and you are still around here." Hanno said, smiling warmly at the fellow Lion, slowly realizing he was missing something.

"Ah, yes. My name is Hanno, Hanno Futaba." He introduced himself, offering a hand. "It is nice to meet'cha. Listening to you, I think we could... Maybe work together in this? Not just the list, but you know. Make sure we don't have more 'Quincy' cases." Hanno said, nicknaming the effect of someone dying three times right off the bat.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

That was how she tried to think of it, yeah. Cleo nodded, happy that somebody else shared her point of view, even the one she forced onto herself in order to not go crazy whenever she was having to hand out bad news to people. One day, if she didn't already, she hoped that Quincy would understand and appreciate what Cleo had tried to do for her, though she was also worried about whatever darkness the girl harbored. That strange black smoke had been particularly worrisome, she'd never seen anything like that happening to somebody seemingly without their control.

Ah well, I joined pretty much explicitly so I could look after people and maybe keep them from dying.

Though as Hanno introduced himself, it dawned on Cleo that they hadn't actually shared any introductions. She nodded, giving Hanno a friendly smile and taking his hand, giving it a firm shake in greetings to him.

My name is Cleo Looker. It'd be nice to have more allies in this entire endeavor. And with that shield of yours, I'd wager that you're pretty damn good at keeping people alive and safe. That thing is way too big to just be something that you use to defend yourself.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno blinked surprised at the reveal. "Wait really? Hell, you are a crazy lady. I like that!" He laughed, not meaning it in a bad way. "The hell you do out of here? Are you a firefighter? Gotta be something like that to have this much courage." He could only guess. Who else would just decide to get in the game where death was crawling close to you all the time?

When she revealed her name, Hanno nodded, taking a mental note of it, then smiling softly at the compliment.

"No one died on me, and I don't plan to ever change that," Hanno said. "This shield is my loyal combat buddy. He saved me and others plenty of times already." As soon as he said it, the shield rumbled slightly, and the faerin grinned giving it a pat. "Don't be embarrassed now." He chuckled, peeking at the waiter that finally appeared with the pile of food he had ordered, placing it on the table and making Hanno's eyes sparkle in his usual gluttony.

He imbued some divine magic in the meat, just to make sure, and then looked at Cleo.

"Y'know. You already look quite tough yourself, are you sure you started just now?" He asked.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Crazy? Cleo blinked, not having expected to receive that kind of response to her reveal, looking briefly down at herself, before looking back at Hanno. Was it really crazy to have done what she was doing? It wasn't like she could reveal that it was her job to be doing this kind of thing, specifically with the VRSA, nor could she say that she was doing it solely because it was her job, when this kind of duty was something that could be refused if an agent had no desire to put themselves at risk, at the mercy of this game that had killed people and would kill again.

But it wasn't wrong to help others...

Ah yeah, something like that. I've seen my fair share of emergencies and had to save a lot of people in the real world. I'd consider it my duty to help people, no matter where they are, or where I am.

She'd let him believe she was a firefighter. It was a fine profession after all, though hopefully he wouldn't question how a firefighter had enough free time to play this game so much. Instead, she focused on his explanation of his shield, blinking as it rumbled. Was...was his shield alive?

I'm very sure I started recently, yeah. I've also really knuckled down on training and combat. Basically a good eighty to ninety percent of my time spent in this game has been spent training or fighting things.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"So a hero in here and here out of here." Hanno took a piece of the raw piece of meat he had requested. "You are amazing, buddy." He said, finally shoving the meat into his mouth so he could replenish his monthly requirement of it. There was some warmth from the goddess when he went for it, one that felt sinful in a way, but after listening to the stories and myths, Hanno couldn't think ill of it.

As she explained what she was doing, Hanno cleared his throat and listened surprised at how relentless she was being.

"Eighty to ninety percent? That's a lot of training, you are being like those guys that grind level right away, no wonder you are already looking quite impressive." He nodded, looking at her. Honestly, she was clearly tough looking, though her items and accessories gave her away, she was still new, but strong.

"I can help you with training too if you want. But only under one condition." Hanno said, greedily going for the salad, forking a tomato right away.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Cleo blushed in embarrassment slightly, waving a hand to dispel the notoons that Hanno was speaking. She didn't see anything that she did as particularly noteworthy or praiseworthy, certainly not to the degree that she would agree with somebody calling it amazing. Far from it, actually.

Ah, it's not quite that impressive, really. I wouldn't say that I'm a hero, since I get paid for my work and all. A true hero would do it all without any kind of repayment or reward expected, so there's a bit of a distinction there, at least for me.

Though he seemed impressed with her, the surprise that he'd shown at her amount of training having been something that she'd suspected. Too many people told her that she needed to slow down and try to enjoy things more. She'd always disagreed with the notion. If somebody died because she was busy enjoying herself rather than helping, then that blood would be on her hands.

So what's this condition of yours, then? Hopefully it's something that's agreeable. Too many people try to place a condition on something even when they know that the other party would never follow such a condition in the first place.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"If you say so." Hanno shrugged with a face that clearly said 'to me you are', but he wasn't going to argue about it. "All I tell you is that heroes also need to pay bills." It wasn't like people were going to do it for them. Not that Hanno gained any money in the game for it, but in one way or another, he was getting 'paid' in other ways. He gained friends with that, he have fun sometimes, despite the difficulties, and all sort of things.

When she asked about the condition and started mentioning some people placing unrealistic requests, Hanno huffed a quiet laugh and looked at her.

"My condition is that you will also have fun." He said.

"And by that, I don't mean that you should stop helping others. But everyone needs a rest too, and you should make the work of saving others remotely... Fun. Not that there is anything fun about having to get someone out of a life and death situation, but rather that... I've learned in the bad way that you can't save everyone all the time, and even if you save someone, you also need to save yourself." Hanno explained, thinking that it could confuse her, so he placed it more straightforward: "What I mean is that you should also have a moment to enjoy what this world has to offer. It is a fucked up place from our real life eyes, but it is also an unique experience... And I think if you save others, and show them there is the more safe and fun enviroment they can stay in this game, they won't be as much in danger as if you just save them and let them be with their lives, eventually going to a dangerous dungeon and dying off."

He pushed a portion of food, one of vegetables and meat that only existed in Terrasphere. "Know the territory you will work on. Learn about this world, that's the only way we can make it a safe place for everyone."

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Paying bills was a good point. It wasn't a good look for a hero to be evicted because they couldn't pay rent or anything like that. It was also quite an amusing thing, actually, picturing a superhero, spandex costume and all, being tossed out of an apartment because they were running behind on rent and their landlord wasn't willing to have any patience for them, just because they were somebody that went out and helped people and saved lives.

Though, of course, the moment Hanno mentioned his condition, any smile or friendly expression on Cleo's face died a horrible, slow and painful death, replaced quickly by a frown that began to sink into a scowl. Of course he was going to say something unreasonable. Everybody did. Especially the veterans from four years ago. And here she was, thinking that she'd found something of a companion, somebody that could understand her point of view, only for them to start making ridiculous demands. She couldn't help but scoff.

I won't agree to that, no. And I want to make this very clear. This is not a game to me. Not something to pass the time, or to make friends, or to have some fun. Terrasphere itself is very little more than a murder weapon, one that people seem all too eager to point at themselves and pull the trigger.

She frowned at the portion of food he pushed, shaking her head. She did not need to have fun to learn about the world.

You can try to teach people that there are safe ways to remain in this virtual nightmare, if you want to. You have good points there. But I won't tell people anything other than the fact that they'll be safe if they log out and never log back in.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"That's on you." Hanno shrugged, looking at her and pulling the portion back to him, and letting her tell what she wanted, glancing up at her and realizing she didn't understand that people didn't have the same mind as her or him.

"I will make it very clear to you, buddy. I tell everyone that logging out and never logging back is a great idea. Do you know how many people listen? Newbies and veterans included?" Hanno said, looking at her intently and letting her consider, expecting that she probably tried to tell some people to get offline forever herself. "Nearly none. I managed to get a handful out of here, but most of them? Just ignore my warnings or log off for a day and a week later I see them logged in again." He looked at Cleo with a much more serious expression than any of the faces he have done so far.

"You can't expect people to think reasonably. If they did, this game wouldn't be the problem it is right now, it would just be an empty wasteland. So the least I can do in these cases, that are crushing majority, is to show the ones that are too dumb to leave that there are safe spots they can be and not get themselves killed." Hanno left that very clear, continuing to eat his meal right after. She could scowl at him as much as she wanted, and he understood perfectly why she was doing it. But virtual reality was just as complicated as true reality, something that took Hanno months to understand.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Oh I'm all too aware that basically nobody listens to reason here. It's the most realistic thing about this damn game. If there's one thing I've learned on the job, it's that people refuse to listen to reason when whatever is reasonable goes against what they think or what they believe. Even when I clue people in to the dangers that this game poses that aren't to do with killing the people that play it.

She wondered how many people knew that the abilities one used in the game could have very real effects on the minds of the people using them. How many veterans had been permanently affected by the now defunct 'Berserk' mastery? How many people were now being affected by whatever the Corrupt mastery was doing to them? How many people realized that the game was perfectly capable of affecting them, even down to how they thought.

Look, I'm sorry, but your condition just to train together is just unreasonable. I can tell people that they can find safe fun without trying to find this hell fun myself. Itr goes against every single thing that I believe in, to attempt to enjoy my time playing this game.

@Hanno Futaba