I really, really wanted to include this one as a social link, but there's just absolutely fuck all I can do with Iris pre-isekai. She's an OL, kind of a good accountant, and gets run over by a truck. That's all I have to work with, and I'm already working with peanuts for some of these SLs. Accomplishments of the Duke's Daughter honestly feels less of an isekai and more like Iris just randomly gets the power of sanity and neoliberal capitalism.
But honestly? Absolutely love Accomplishments of the Duke's Daughter. I think it was the first isekai I actually was a big fan of, running around hunting down fantranslations of the webnovel just to find out what happens next. It hurts me that I couldn't include it.
Good catch. I make a lot of mistakes but this was on purpose, and it's to reflect how in the Ordinal Scale movie Yunna comments how the Augma is just a NerveGear with some scaled-back functions. There's even a scene where she explicitly warns Shigemura that it can still kill people!
But yes, there are reasons why the Amusphere can't generate a Persona, but it's a later quest thing.
Well, at the very least Hiyori's can't but somehow Gwen's can so it must be a Lux thing maybe.
Also I find it very odd that Gwen is not a Social Link even though she is the protagonist best friend. Is not bad, but is funny in a way.
uh, tl;dr, part of Build Divers's plot is that GBN has somehow spontaneously been generating self-aware AI residents. They're not NPCs, they kinda just spawn out of nowhere, and while they don't have access to all the systems a player would, they can kinda intuit the state of the sim and whatnot. In season 1, a group of kids encounter one such AI and effectively adopt her, but find out later that GBN flat out cannot handle self-aware NPCs, and that the errors from that'll slowly cascade into the destruction of the entire VRMMO. On top of that, some guy's fucking with an exploit using older, Gundam Build Fighters tech from before the VRMMO, 'cause he thinks the consequence free nature of the VRMMO is making people softer, and that the experience isn't as truly important to the players as Build Fighter's arenas were, so he wants to cause more cascading errors to crash the VRMMO. After that guy was defeated and convinced not to destroy the VRMMO, they have to go to him for help, 'cause his exploit was the only feasible method of extracting their self-aware AI friend from the sim before her existence crashes it, and he's one of the few people actually smart enough to find a way to download a self-aware AI to an irl Gunpla model without accidentally killing or driving that AI insane. The playerbase finds out that the AI is why the game's still bugged even after the exploit was 'fixed' (it wasn't fixed, but the playerbase doesn't know that), and there's something of a miniature war between the guilds that want to kill the AI and save the VRMMO, vs the guilds trying to save the AI and keep things stable long enough to fix everything, which is probably why Xexeed is roughly aware of the situation.
Said 'can't logout' thing would've been due to the glitchiness caused by both the AI's existence and the exploit. Ofc, Season 2 makes up an explanation as to why AIs are suddenly starting to appear in-sim, and takes that 'download to a Gunpla' method and makes it more widespread, developing actual doll-like bodies for the AIs and such, and integrating them into society. Unlike Season 1, Season 2 is legitimately great!
Seconding a rec on GBD Rerise by the way. That show has some damn amazing twists and some of the narratives unronically end up making the mediocre 1st season better because of them.
I unironically want them to figure out a way to put that in a mainline SRW Game.
Seconding a rec on GBD Rerise by the way. That show has some damn amazing twists and some of the narratives unronically end up making the mediocre 1st season better because of them.
I unironically want them to figure out a way to put that in a mainline SRW Game.
Honestly, the sheer qualitative difference between seasons 1 and 2... you can really feel that they decided to put effort into making season 2 a good show instead of a 'kid's show' like season 1 was.
[X] Ask for Yuuki's help with Ragnarok.
[X] Alice Liddell
MONDAY - May 19th, 2025
Lunchtime
It's impossible the miss the crowd. Hundreds of students pushing up against each other, all desperate to see the results. You feel the anxiety radiating off them, their voices and heartbeats a drumbeat in your head. From within the human mass, a girl with unruly hair escapes the human crush, dragging Atsuko behind her.
"Safe! Oh, thank god! Aachan you're the best!" she says, hanging off Atsuko in desperation and gratitude. "My otome life is safe!"
"Now if you'd only study harder, I bet you can even break into the top half!"
"Ahhh... I'll work harder next time Aachan..."
Atsuko lets out a long-suffering sigh. The sign of a battle she's long since given up on winning.
"Oh, Yori-chan!" Atsuko smiles, waving at you when she sees you walking closer. "Congrats! You did amazing!"
You did? Pushing your way through the crowd was easier than you expected, with several classmates backing away the moment they saw you approach. Bloody Yori rumors never ended even if they ablated somewhat...
Hmm... Kashiwazaka...
You optimistically start scanning from the top of the list. First place in your year went to... Kurihara Misato? You didn't know her very well, apparently, she was Class 1-B's idol.
...Of course that paled in comparison to the school's real idol. Akane Nishino was an actress who was practically never in school, but that didn't stop her from being the center of rumors. You think the whole reason she came to this dumb place instead of something like Aeterna Girls' Academy was due to some deal with the faculty to skip practically every class.
Somehow, she's still in the Top 5.
Going down you finally find your name. Not near the top, but nowhere near the bottom. Comfortably in the top quarter, the marker of an above-average student, just a few ranks below Atsuko.
Hmm... it wasn't going to turn any heads. Nobody really noticed something as middling as above average...
But it feels good. You managed to pass an exam without any cramming while juggling a very time-consuming extra-curricular activity. All the extra studying you snuck in during class plus a few high-impact cram school lessons actually paid off! At this rate, you might actually have a future that doesn't involve working part-time!
Create next thread at >>950. Refrain from posting after 950 until the next thread is made. If there's no response or the trolls take it first, declare it so someone else can do it.
Previous Thread: http://itest.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/vrmmo/1003680180/l90Ixa
This is an absolute travesty. The SEED was supposed to save gaming, not ruin it.
Once games took effort and vision, now some dumbass can hack one together in an afternoon, then ask the players to bugfix it
The devs so stupid, they can't even ban their own players! ALO is just SAO2.0
When the barbarians bellowed at the gates, we true fairies stood fast before the gates!
In iron we trust! In fire we shall be purified!
Ave! Lord Mortimer!
Nerakk, the questgiver for deep sea plunderers quest, isn't marked as immortal. If you attack him or mess with the quest sequence he turns into a huge squid. much easier fight.
>>622 k' history lesson here. The quest created norns, in mythology they were guardians of yggdrasil's roots. Urdr = urdr pool? sound familiar? Probably not intentional. Dumb load bearing boss cause ALO drank the norse juice too much, kill it and the stuff directly above the roof falls over.
Guys, look. I'm a refugee from GBN, I remember what it was like when the GMs lose control. We gotta stop sitting on our asses and expecting the GMs to bail us out. They're clueless. Everyone realized too late in GBN that the ones who had the stop the hackers weren't the GMs, but the players themselves. Look, I love ALO. I want to be playing this till the day I die. It's perfect, and there's still a whole 7 more realms left to release. But I've seen this happen to GBN and I'm watching it happen to ALO.
Everyone, we need to band together. We need to set aside factions and fight against the fangs of fenris
the GMs aren't going to do that for us. This is just a job for them
ALO is my world. And I'm not going to sit by and watch it die
You're all overreacting. This isn't some no name company in over its head, its RECT, the guys who built the Amusphere.
This is first party software we're talking about here.
Look they're even bringing people back with an EXP bonus
>>630 buddy have you logged in lately?
Cause all the zones are frozen over, there's giant monsters roaming everywhere, and a city got destroyed. Not even bringing up the concert fiasco.
>>631 Hence why I'm not worried. The devs are clearly setting up a ragnarok event. This is a game based on Norse mythology after all. If I were a betting man, I'd say the EXP event is there to let take advantage of the event mobs, so we can be nice and powerful for the update when all the shit hits the fan. We still haven't met the Aesir yet
This is a shit event. Tried to get my friend to play, he walks outta town and gets shredded by a fuckin minotaur?? why there jotunheim mobs spawnning outside the starting towns!?
Why do you like reading this garbage? Cause anonymous jackasses don't have a filter. Got to cut through all the politeness bullshit somehow.
You scroll through a few more messages, noting the frequency with which the Fangs are called out by name. You suspect that these posters were people more like Sigurd than Leafa, players who still had it in them to be pissed off at a company, rather than treating it as some kind of true apocalypse.
There are genuine fans out there. People for whom ALO represents an escape from the real world, a journey to a better world. Even for yourself, the strength, the power you have in the virtual world contrasts so heavily with the real you. Lux could destroy lands, subjugate gods, and bring about the end of all days. Hiyori could... misread the train schedule, get lost in Shibuya, and spend entirely too much on a can of vending machine tea.
You were close to the main shopping plazas in Shibuya, standing in an alley behind a Gym and a Big Bang Burger. You got distracted by some demo footage playing on the screen in the subway and ended up missing your stop, losing minutes circling back.
Standing out in the alley you can feel the weather changing. Late June is the start of Tokyo's rainy season, which means one thing: Humidity. The one thing SAO didn't bother simulating. While Kayaba Akihiko was an insane mass murderer, he also lived in Tokyo, and by some great act of mercy deigned to spare Aincrad the horrendous weather the city itself was often subjected to.
Where the hell is she? You know what you should've done? Stolen that girl's bank account while we had a chance. Could've solved all our money issues in one fell swoop.
Sure, break into RECT again to steal someone's bank account information, a masterplan with no possible points of failure. We need money. Seriously. The air conditioning unit in the apartment needs to be fixed otherwise we marinate in our own sweat.
That's gonna cost tens of thousands of yen, but it's money that needs to be spent. When the heat and humidity hits at once your hair puffs up like a drowned lion, and it usually takes half an hour of fiddling and multiple hair products to turn it from a flaming shrub into simple bed hair. But you worked hard on that hairstyle! You've got natural curls and you can't let that go to waste!
"Kashiwazaka-san?"
A voice breaks through the fog of your internal conversation, and you look around to find the source. You don't see anyone else in the alleyway, and your eyes turn towards the street.
Wow. What the hell do you have to eat to look like that!? She's one miniskirt away from joining a K-pop troupe.
She was tall. Like, really tall. You were here to meet Hanekura Shizuka, who mentioned she was going to come meet you after her college classes ended. You knew she was older than you but you weren't prepared for a giant. She was dressed in a plain green blouse, and her hair was a neat short cut with a side braid.
"Shizuka-san?" you ask, giving a short bow. "I'm sorry I'm late, I got lost on the way over here."
"O-oh? I'm no—"
You look up and catch her looking embarrassed, her eyes darting to the ground. An elementary school girl walks up behind her, hidden behind Shizuka's long legs. She's wearing a simple ponytail and a very plain shirt, probably a tomboy of some sort. Seems annoyed to be here, must've failed a test or something recently. Wait, did Shizuka bring her little sister to this meeting!? But that doesn't make any sense, this was supposed to be a private meeting! Yeah? Shizuka probably had no choice.
No choice...? Oh! Like... a daughter? Wait, wasn't she just in college? Isn't it a bit early!? Should a mother be playing VRMMOs? Did you delay so long she had to go pick her up from daycare!?
You bend your head in a much deeper bow, apologizing with all the sincerity you possess. "Ah! Shizuka-san! I'm sorry, I didn't know you were out with your daughter!"
The two exchange confused looks.
Shut up, she's in college. She must be embarrassed about being called out like this.
"Ah, it's great to see families together! I think you look cute together!" They really did! Outside of the hairstyle, they did have a superficial similarity. They seemed a bit uncomfortable together, though. Like the pair were trying to hide something, perhaps?
Shizuka herself has gone completely red. She clutches her chest as if she was just shot in it, struggling to take in a breath. She heaves, putting her arm against a nearby wall, her head brushing up against the sign over a nearby store. Her daughter, not bothering to come to the aid of her mother, crosses her arms and starts grinding her teeth together. C'mon, go help her out! She should take better care of her mom!
"H-hey, are you okay?" You say, inching closer to help hold her up. "You don't look so well Shizuka-san."
"Y-yes... um, I'm... I'm fine... but..."
"Do you want me to call for help?" This was the second medical emergency you've walked into! Damn it, you should really take some courses on CPR!
"No, no, it's... I'm fine." She coughs, pushing her massive body upright and trying to straighten her shirt, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "Just caught off guard. And, I'm not actually Shizuka."
She's not? Wait then who is it? Wait, the... elementary schooler!? Didn't she mention college classes in the text?
It's like Seven all over again. Must've skipped all the grades.
The child walks up to you, fists balled and cursing under her breath. She stops a few steps away from you, staring into your eyes with a fiery gaze. "I'm Hanekura Shizuka. You DOLT!"
Huh. Seems you were mistaken.
"Okay!? I'm not gonna keep explaining it! I'm not a genius schoolgirl, I'm a normal twenty-year-old college student and I'M NOT HER DAUGHTER! She's YOUNGER THAN ME!"
You are now sitting at the table inside of the Big Bang Burger where you had agreed to meet Shizuka, nursing a fountain drink. Shizuka had managed to calm herself, but you could still see her shoulders shaking. Her mother— no, her friend, was sitting beside her, staring at the two of you. She seemed to rebound from her own shock much faster than Shizuka.
"It was a, uh, simple mistake, that's all." The tall girl says, trying to restore the peace.
"Do you have eyes?" Shizuka replies. "I don't look anything like her!"
You have no excuse for this one. Just the same, the girl was clearly upset and was taking it out on you, the most convenient target. Best to let her vent for a bit.
"I would've accepted little sister! That happens enough that I'm inoculated against it! I know Karen's bigger than me, but we're clearly at least in the same age range!"
"Shizuka, let's let it drop, please?" The woman— Karen, apparently— replies, patting her friend on the shoulder. It still looked like a mom trying to stop her daughter from throwing a tantrum. "Kashiwazaka-san, right?"
"Y-yes," you say, "but please, you can just call me Hiyori."
"Hiyori? My name is Karen, we're both students at Ochanomizu University. I'm tagging along with Shizuka, partly for safety." Ochanomizu!? That place is like down the goddamn street from our apartment! Why the fuck did we have to come all the way out to Shibuya!?
Shizuka sighs, reclining into her seat, a hand coming to her face. The table's flush against her lower neck, but on Karen, it barely even reaches her stomach. "I'm fine. I'm not a child, I don't need babysitting."
"Even I got stalked by someone I met online. You have to be careful so the same doesn't happen to you!" Says Karen.
Huh. It wouldn't exactly be difficult to stalk someone who stands out as much as Karen. Good luck catching her though. With those legs, she could probably outrun a bike. And look! See that strap on her bag?
The pink charm? It's... in the shape of a gun? Looks like some kind of space rifle. She must have American blood in her, which would explain everything. The name, the height, and the gun obsession.
Before you can get distracted any further, Shizuka cuts in, leaning across the table towards you.
"Hiyori, you're in control of the Lux account, correct?" She says, her tone shifting dramatically. "I've seen you hanging around Shiroe. Is it true, that you're a player of ALfheim Online?"
"Err, well, yes, but..." You stammer. Why does it sound like she's accusing you of a crime?
"I'm not going to beat around the bush. Shiroe went all silent the minute he started hanging out with you, and when I ask he just tells me to quit ALO! Then he deletes me from his contact list!"
Hanekura Shizuka was the owner of the Akatsuki account, something you accidentally verified when you snuck into the RECT servers. It's an account that's surprisingly important, especially since without her none of this would've even been possible.
"It's... difficult. We're involved in something dangerous right now." You reply, trying to keep the explanation vague. "I don't think he meant anything personal by removing you from his contacts..." It was probably a wise precaution, considering you were going up against ALO's administrator. Doubtless, OBERON could dig through contact lists if he truly wanted to. Hell deleting the contacts might not be enough, who knew what kind of info the SEED kept saved on the servers?
She waves you off, "I'm not a child, I know he's just trying to keep his friends away from something. But dangerous? In ALO? Like what happened with GBN? Or SAO?"
"I, er, can't tell you much more than that, I'm sorry."
Shizuka glares, crossing her arms. "You can't tell me anything, or you won't?"
"I'm sorry. It's not just my secret to keep. I didn't mean to keep you away from your friend..."
"He's..." She grumbles, trailing off for a brief moment. "Look, we partied up a bunch after sneaking up the tree, then one day he practically ghosts me. I'm just worried, something fishy is clearly going on. Then the next thing I see his name is plastered on ALO wanted sites as some kind of VR terrorist?"
"It's complicated, we're all... trying to solve a mystery," You reply. "Tracking down some stolen goods."
Shizuka gives you a quizzical look. "Stolen goods? Virtual goods, like gold?"
Considering everything was blowing up tomorrow, being more open was likely safe. "Truth be told, we're looking into RECT itself, and are concerned they're involved in a form of human trafficking. Everything you hear, it's just us trying to stress the system. I really can't say anything more."
"Trafficking!? In a VR game? It's... ah, what the hell is he getting himself into? I want to help but he won't even let me."
"You were worried about Shiroe?" Karen chimes in, curious, some kind of suspicion dawning on her face.
"Yes, who wouldn't be!? And I don't want to be left out!"
"It's fine, really! It's just that things are going to be chaotic soon. We're going to be making some, ahem, big statements in the VR world. Bit too late to add on more people. Is that all you called me out for?"
"Actually, no, I wanted to ask something else," Shizuka says, coughing to regain her composure. "It's actually why I brought Karen here. She's looking for party members for some kind of tournament. So I wanted to ask if Shiroe would be willing to try GGO. I get nauseous playing GGO so I can't help even if I had the time for it..."
"Shizuka, it's fine." Karen says, craning her neck down so much it must hurt, "I can manage on my own."
"No, I don't want to leave you hanging after you asked me for help. I figured Shiroe's the smartest player I know, so if anyone can help you, it's gotta be him. That said, I didn't realize things in ALO were so dire... "
You're not sure how to react. It seems a little bit selfish, but it's no different from what you yourself did. You asked him for help just because his skills were convenient to you. How many times did Shiroe have to say yes before he winds up like Yakutani-sensei, unable to say no until his body breaks down?
"What exactly do you need his help with in GGO?"
"I'm participating in a tournament, but I need party members," Karen replies. "It's a special event being run next month. And please, think nothing of it. Shizuka didn't mention that her friend was already busy..."
"No, if he can help, you should take the offer. You could use a tactician," Shizuka says. Her eyes are focused on the ground, avoiding her friend's.
"I can at least pass along a message. We're planning to, well, finish things tomorrow, so he might be free." Alright, why the fuck are you being his messenger? Wouldn't it be easier to just give Karen Shiroe's phone number?
"That's... fine, I guess." Shizuka sighs. "Just a message will be enough." Oh, I get it. Chibi here doesn't want Ms. Tall and Glamourous to steal him away!
Yeah, well, that's gonna be awkward. Shizuka wants to help her friend but doesn't want to accidentally hook them up. A problem you absolutely, positively do not want to get involved in.
"So, um, you said tomorrow you'll be done?" Shizuka continues, finally meeting your eyes again.
"Yes, but probably not till late at night." You reply. "It's... I can't say much, but it's going to be a big mess. Hopefully, he won't be tied up for too long."
"That's fine. Just..." Shizuka hesitates, biting her lip and unable to find the right words. "Please, look out for him."
"Of course," you reply, smiling. "And I'll tell him to message you as soon as he's free."
Shizuka's face turns red, darting away from yours. You catch Karen looking down with a soft smile, visibly fighting the urge to headpat her friend. Shizuka's the picture of a blushing schoolgirl.
The smell of grilled meat interrupts the conversation.
"Sorry for the wait, dear customers! One Big Bang Burger, and two Earth Burgers, as ordered!" The waitress places the tray down, taking a few steps back and clasping her hands together. There's a small plastic toy next to Shizuka's burger.
"And for our young explorer, a complimentary Junior Cadet Badge! On the house!"
You sigh and patiently bite into your burger, trying to ignore the sight of Karen wrestling Shizuka into her seat, struggling desperately to stop the small woman from throwing the badge at the waitress.
...
You know what? I'm already sick of being a carrier pigeon for these idiots.
Hmm, maybe there's a more permanent solution...
mánadagr - 19th of Harpa
Afternoon
"GET THIS THING OFF ME!"
KYYYYYYUUUUUUUUUUUUU!
It's the eve before the assault on the «World Tree», and predictably, Shiroe's in the foyer of «Naglfar» surrounded by piles and piles of paperwork, half shredded by an angry killer dragon. Dorz'l has decided to claim ownership of the living room, and has spent the last few days figuring out what objects his claws could shred and what he couldn't. Shiroe, it seems, falls into the former category.
"LUX! GET CAYNA HERE!" KYYYYYYYYYYYUUUU!!!!!
Technically you weren't inside a protected zone, but the «Fairy Dragon» monster class had melee strikes weaker than unarmed goblins, it's only threatening ability a simple bubble breath that Shiroe's equipment fully nullifies. Not that it stopped Dorz'l from trying. The tiny beast would lunge, claws swiping and teeth snapping, then fly away before Shiroe could get a counterattack in.
The tiny dragon chases Shiroe around the living room, a stack of papers clenched around his chest before he takes refuge behind you. Kyuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!
Dorz'l lands, hissing at the two of you. Normally, you'd be terrified of a SAO floor boss, but Cayna revealed to you that she had «Beast Tamer» leveled up so high Dorz'l couldn't transform without her explicit permission. He's as threatening as a stuffed animal until Cayna lets him off the leash. Now what did she tell you to say when Dorz'l got uppity?
"Dorz'l. Stop." KYYYYYYYUUUUUYYYUUUUU!
"I'll tell Cayna. And she'll tell Kuu." Kuuuuuyyyuuuu....
The dragon immediately backs down, whimpering in supplication.
"That's right, that's better," you say, stroking the dragon's head. Cayna's advice was to always combine the stick with the carrot.
"How come he doesn't listen when I do that!?" Shiroe asks, readjusting his glasses.
"It's probably because you killed him."
From Yuuki's blow-by-blow recreation of the fight, you understand Dorz'l's frustration. Shiroe had the Frost Giants create an ice surface to cover over an entrance hatch and then set the «Sleeping Knights» into harrying the dragon into making a dive.
The moment he landed the false floor shattered and Shiroe ordered the hatch closed right over Dorz'l's neck. Dorz'l, trapped, was helpless as the Frost Giants used their axes to sever his head from his body over the course of minutes of bloody hackwork. It was, in summary, a horrible way to die.
"He's probably just holding a grudge."
"You know, usually when you kill a boss, it stays dead. That's just how these games work."
"You were the one who warned us it might respawn."
"I didn't know you were going to recruit it!"
"You were the one who said we should consider all the possibilities."
"I did, but..."
"And now that I know he can't turn into a killer dragon except when Cayna orders it, I think he's pretty cute!" You point over to the side of the room where Dorz'l was perched on a stool, shoving its snout into a bowl full of berries. It makes chirping sounds as it devours its snack, a thin string of drool dripping down its chin.
"You wanted to ask me something Lux? Tomorrow's the big day, so it's best to get it off your chest while you still can." The two of you find a couch that has only been lightly shredded by Dorz'l, sitting down while you explain Shizuka's proposal. Shiroe purses his lips and leans forward, his fingers forming a steeple.
"GGO, huh," he says, "Well, I can't say I was expecting a request like this. It's a little hard for me to give an answer without more information."
"It seems your services are in demand," you reply. "I know it's hypocritical of me to worry, but are you sure you're not taking on too much?"
Shiroe goes silent, his expression darkening.
"Just yesterday I met a man who almost died," you say. It's so strange saying that when you've seen countless deaths in SAO already. "He... overworked himself. Just couldn't say no to people asking for his help."
Shiroe frowns, staring back without a sound.
"I don't know about other people, but I don't want you to wind up like him. So... please, just be careful, ok? I see you online all the time, and I know how much you're working to make this a success. Just... don't neglect your real life."
"It's fine, I learned my lesson back in «Elder Tale». I can't do everything and I shouldn't try to do everything."
"So... no on GGO, then?"
"It's... I won't lie. Work in the lab has been ramping up and I'm finding it hard to keep up. It's not so bad though, and I'm getting good at delegating tasks to the freshman, but..."
"But?"
"It's difficult. I feel like the world's most terrible parent, handing out work I should be doing myself. Shigemura-sensei trusts me enough to let me set my own schedule, but I know that my absences have been noticed."
You've heard that college was the time when students could really cut loose, the last chance to enjoy youth before the grind of adulthood. To some college was just a victory lap and a way to gain connections... but you find it difficult to see Shiroe taking that road.
"You know it's funny," Shiroe says, a small nostalgic smile forming on his lips, "I remember back in high school, I was halfway to being a NEET. Just smart enough to keep up without much effort, and I had no responsibilities. I would spend days just plumbing the secrets of «Elder Tale». I had so many friends in-game, and people would come from all over the server to ask for my advice. I would host raid parties and strategy meetings, I even contributed to fan sites and strategy guides."
He takes a breath, letting out a sigh. "Back then, that was my life. It was such an incredible time, I wish I could go back and tell myself to appreciate it more."
"What happened?"
"Everyone grew up, is what. Our leader got married, and now she's in a completely different timezone raising a family. Our tank got a work promotion. One by one, the friends I made disappeared. Some of them just quit, some left for college, and some were busy with real-life things. I tried to have fun by myself, but at some point, it began to feel more like a job than a hobby."
Shiroe looks down, his shoulders sagging. "Then I closed my eyes one day and realized high school was over. Now, it was my turn to grow up."
"But... you were close friends, right? Even if it's not in the game anymore, can't you stay in touch?"
"For some, I have been," he answers, sighing. "But not everyone lives in Tokyo. And well... it's been years since anyone's ever played «Elder Tale». What did we really have in common beyond enjoying a piece of entertainment together? Everyone has lives of their own, and now that includes me too. The closest thing to a reunion I could manage was in ALO, and even that was only three people."
He stands, stretching his arms. "Lux, I want to be honest with you. So there are no regrets on the eve of the final battle."
"Yeah. No regrets." Some of you might lose memories or worse in this fight.
He looks over at you with a wry smile, "I like doing this. Playing MMOs, tricking the system, outsmarting the devs, and designing strategies. It's a rush, every last second. This whole thing we're doing? I haven't had this much fun since the old «Debauchery Tea Party» days. This is the kind of adventure I've always dreamed of having..."
You still can't make up your mind yourself. The freedom of flight, the moment-to-moment thrills, the ability to finally wield power and not be beholden to the whims of murderers... But then you remember the hundreds of souls locked in lightless cells. The sight of friends whimpering on the ground, their traumas forcibly dragged out to secure a cheap victory. The thousands of players who OBERON was about to turn into puppets.
It was hard to call that fun.
He turns his back, looking towards the walls of the Ice Palace. "But, it's not a life, as much as I want it to be. I have a career, I have responsibilities, and eventually, I have to pay the bills."
"So that's a no for GGO?"
"I'd... love to accept. And Shiroe would want nothing more than to have another adventure. But Shirogane Kei has other obligations."
He turns, smiling sadly, "So, please, Lux. If you would, just send a message to Akatsuki for me. Tell her I'm very sorry, but I can't help her friend."
"Hmm, then I'm afraid I'll have to say no as well," you say, smiling.
Shiroe's face twists in confusion.
"Because I'm afraid you'll have to tell her yourself!"
You raise your in-game menu, scrolling to the message you had prewritten in advance of this meeting. "Her name's Shizuka and she's mad that you ghosted her. So Shirogane Kei owes her an apology! Face-to-face."
"Hey, can't you just pass along a mess—"
You wave the spin the UI around, showing Shiroe the message you just sent. "Nope. Because I already set up the meeting! Next week, 4 PM, Shibuya."
Shiroe groans, clutching his head in his hands.
>>For accidentally saving Yakutani-sensei's life, EMPATHY increases! ♪♪♪♪♪♪
>>You caught up on a ton of schoolwork while waiting in the hospital waiting room! CURRICULUM increases! ♪♪♪♪
>>For hearing the worries of a child of VR, EMPATHY increases! ♪♪♪♪♪♪
>>For interfering with Shiroe's personal life, MASK greatly increases! ♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪
>>MASK has advanced to Rank 5 [Pants on Fire]!
PERSONA UPGRADE PHASE
>For bookkeeping purposes, you last had 5 Free Points (after Crowd Brain) and 2 Devil Points (after Crowd Brain)
>4 points for Norn, plus a bunch of SL points.
You have 9 FREE POINTS
2 MANKIND POINTS
2 SUN POINTS
2 PLANT POINTS
2 FORTUNE POINTS
2 DEVIL POINTS
PERSONAS of RANK 1 can accept at most 4 UPGRADE POINTS
PERSONAS of RANK 2 can accept at most 6 UPGRADE POINTS
PERSONAS of RANK 3 can accept at most 8 UPGRADE POINTS DEATH PERSONAS can increase [Doses] at the cost of 2 UPGRADE POINTS
You may continue to leave UPGRADE points banked
Please seek the 'PERSONA COMPENDIUM TAB' for details about your current Persona Roster! It is up to date.
AVAILABLE UPGRADES:
Arcana Burst[1-3 points]: Increase a Persona's STAT. Increasing a stat up through RANK C (3 Dice) costs 1 POINT per upgrade.
Increase a stat up through RANK S (6 Dice) costs 2 POINTS per upgrade.
Increasing a stat beyond costs 3 POINTS per upgrade.
Arcana Roulette [1 point]: Increase a Persona's STAT by one randomly. Roll 1d6, 1 = STR, 2 = MAG, 3 = AGI, 4 = VIT, 5 = CHT, 6 = Increase the stat bonus by 1, reroll.
Roulette cannot increase a stat past SS Rank (will force a reroll).
Skill Up [1 points]: Increase a SKILL's potency. More potent skills generate more ADVANTAGE when targeting weaknesses, and/or allow for rerolls. Buff skills that are increased in potency will generally change it to an AOE variant.
Seal Persona [3 points]: A persona receiving this upgrade may be voluntarily SEALED. A Persona that is SEALED will no longer be selectable in combat. That Persona may TRANSFER one skill to another Persona. Unsealing and resealing a PERSONA is free once it has been done once.
Enhance Armament [3 points][RANK 2+ Only]: Unlocks a special high-potency attack unique to that Persona. Costs variable. Usually can be used at most once per encounter, with exceptions.
Release Recollection [4 points][RANK 2+ Only]: Unlocks a special activated ability, unique to that Persona. Generally provides primarily narrative or non-combat abilities, with exceptions. Usually costs SP to activate.
Order from Chaos [2 points]: MAXWELL will strengthen your entire Persona roster as he sees fit, bringing weaker Personas up to parity. [This is the QM BALANCE button. If selected the QM will buff underutilized Personas in order to entice players to use them more frequently, because power creep is probably going to be a problem eventually.]
Reverse Arcana: [LOCKED BEHIND RANK 3]
HEAVEN Break: [LOCKED BEHIND RANK 5]
ENHANCE ARMAMENT Your money perish with you, because you have thought that the gift of God can be purchased with money: you have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God; for I perceive that you are in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.
Dedeification: Attempt 5 immediate CHT rolls against target enemy, one for each statistic. The target receives -X DICE when rolling that stat for 3 rounds, with X representing the degree of success against your opponent's roll. In the event of a tie, the enemy suffers no debuff. [3 SP]
RELEASE RECOLLECTION From Simon Magus, that ancient sink of every thing vile has flowed by a secret continuous succession even to Priscillian of our own time. He dared to say that God, the Creator, is the author of evil, that is, of our wickedness and impieties. He asserts that He created with His own hands a human nature of such a description, that of its own motion, and by the impulse of its necessity-constrained will, it can do nothing else, can will nothing else, but sin.
Father of Heresies: Designate any target (enemy, ally or bystander) to become godlike. Can narratively sway the weak-willed. That target now adds their CHT dice to ALL rolls, with the exception of CHT rolls for which they roll normally. The moment they fail any roll for any reason, this effect ends and causes a backlash whereby they become narratively stunned for the next round. Typically this will cause them to lose their next turn and receive DISADVANTAGE on all defensive rolls. [3 SP]
ENHANCE ARMAMENT Poor Urashima! He died because he had been foolish and disobedient. If only he had done as he was told, he might have lived another thousand years. Wouldn't you like to go and see the Dragon Palace beyond the waves, where the Sea-God lives and rules as King over the Dragons and the tortoises and the fishes, where the trees have emeralds for leaves and rubies for berries, where the fishes' tails are of silver and the dragons' tails all of solid gold?
Tamatebako: Perform a single opposed CHT roll (ties cause no effect). Narratively ages the target. If successful by ANY degree, afflicts the enemy with Enervation (debuff MAG/STR) and Poison (1 damage per turn). These effects have infinite duration and cannot naturally expire, though enemies may use skills if they possess them to cure the effect. +1 ADVANTAGE if Lux is at or below half health. +1 ADVANTAGE if another party member is dead or knocked out. [2 SP]
RELEASE RECOLLECTION The laws by which the states of physical systems undergo change are not
affected, whether these changes of state be referred to the one or the other of
two systems of co-ordinates in uniform translatory motion.
Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies: For the remainder of the battle, any passively 'ticking' effects exhaust themselves twice as quickly. (Ie, status effects roll twice per turn to expire, poison deals damage and expires twice as quickly, buffs and debuffs expire twice as quickly) Narratively glitches out active Fluctlight Acceleration effects and complicates time manipulation effects where applicable. You must choose ONE target, whether ally or enemy, to be exempt from this effect. Does not roll dice and persists until the battle is completed. [3 SP]
AN: Last chance to upgrade.
A fair warning, I am strongly, STRONGLY considering revamping some mechanics for the next arc, and the first on the chopping block might be the upgrade system. It was fine at first but now we're getting a ton of Personas... I think I might just auto upgrade in the future and try to find out a different reward for in battle stuff, but I'm not changing anything till end of ALO.
I think we should get the RELEASE RECOLLECTION for Urvashi, that way we can protect the team as a whole against the mind-altering effects OBERON is going to use.
And we could defend the Jewel with Cayna, Rain or Shiroe if needed since they attack at a distance mostly.
625 Name: Nameless Adventurer 2025/05/18 (Mon) 16:50 ID: UKKOdk9Um
Guys, look. I'm a refugee from GBN, I remember what it was like when the GMs lose control. We gotta stop sitting on our asses and expecting the GMs to bail us out. They're clueless. Everyone realized too late in GBN that the ones who had the stop the hackers weren't the GMs, but the players themselves. Look, I love ALO. I want to be playing this till the day I die. It's perfect, and there's still a whole 7 more realms left to release. But I've seen this happen to GBN and I'm watching it happen to ALO.
Everyone, we need to band together. We need to set aside factions and band together against the fangs of fenris
the GMs aren't going to do that for us. This is just a job for them
ALO is my world. And I'm not going to sit by and watch it die
Lux with the dream team on her back, the SEED on a leash and Ragnarok under her arm with her perception of reality completely morphed. "Oh, you sweet summer child..."
Figured we might as well burn all existing upgrade points if the upgrade system is getting the ax. I assume that also means that some aspects of Maneki-Neko's Release Recollection will be changed too (the parts that give upgrade points). Also, I'm not accidentally violating any point limits, am I?
I think Alice is over 1 point over limit but don't worry about it. Things are getting nuked anyway, which is par for the course since I'm changing mechanics every other fight.
I think it's just going to be easier on me to auto level Personas and make them stronger with Social Links. Originally I thought it would be best to try to balance everything, but then I realized I'm not like creating a game that's gonna be sold and replayed. If I slowly power creep things that's fine for a quest. I want new Personas to be used!
Once ALO is over I'm gonna do a mechanics vote and take a very careful look at what I can cut. A new arc gives me a chance to do a clean sweep. And I might be wrong, but I don't think anyone reads this quest for the thrilling half-assed dice rolling combat system. I do want some form of combat resolution that's not 'just let the QM decide' though. Urgh, there's whole Persona Pen and Paper RPG rulesets out there but they're all like 200 pages long and I didn't want to read them, but I probably should've picked on that's already been playtested rather than invent one whole cloth from a jojo text file.
625 Name: Nameless Adventurer 2025/05/18 (Mon) 16:50 ID: UKKOdk9Um
Guys, look. I'm a refugee from GBN, I remember what it was like when the GMs lose control. We gotta stop sitting on our asses and expecting the GMs to bail us out. They're clueless. Everyone realized too late in GBN that the ones who had the stop the hackers weren't the GMs, but the players themselves. Look, I love ALO. I want to be playing this till the day I die. It's perfect, and there's still a whole 7 more realms left to release. But I've seen this happen to GBN and I'm watching it happen to ALO.
Everyone, we need to band together. We need to set aside factions and band together against the fangs of fenris
the GMs aren't going to do that for us. This is just a job for them
ALO is my world. And I'm not going to sit by and watch it die
Reading this makes me feel like a terrible person because I feel a perverse sense of joy at destroying this guys power fantasy. I guess this is why trolls do what they do.
613 Name: Nameless Adventurer 2025/05/18 (Mon) 10:30 ID: sseLPFqC9
When the barbarians bellowed at the gates, we true fairies stood fast before the gates!
In iron we trust! In fire we shall be purified!
Ave! Lord Mortimer!
You're not sure how to react. It seems a little bit selfish, but it's no different from what you yourself did. You asked him for help just because his skills were convenient to you. How many times did Shiroe have to say yes before he winds up like Yakutani-sensei, unable to say no until his body breaks down?
This really does make me feel bad about how we treat Shiroe with us always ignoring his advice and him always getting secondary priority compared to the rest of the Fangs' drama. I really think we should spend some time with him just to hang out for the sake of it sometime in the future.
"That's... fine, I guess." Shizuka sighs. "Just a message will be enough." Oh, I get it. Chibi here doesn't want Ms. Tall and Glamourous to steal him away!
"It's... I won't lie. Work in the lab has been ramping up and I'm finding it hard to keep up. It's not so bad though, and I'm getting good at delegating tasks to the freshman, but..."
He looks over at you with a wry smile, "I like doing this. Playing MMOs, tricking the system, outsmarting the devs, and designing strategies. It's a rush, and I love the feeling. This whole thing we're doing? I haven't had this much fun since the old «Debauchery Tea Party» days. This is the kind of adventure I've always dreamed of having..."
[X] Plan: Power Gamer
-[X] Release Recollection - Urvashi (2 Sun, 2 Free)
-[X] Skill Up-Eiha->Eiga (Alice Lidell) (-1 Mankind point)
-[X] Arcana Burst (Alice Lidell) MAG A to S (-1 Mankind -1 Free)
-[X] Arcana Burst (Khodumodumo) STR B to A (-2 Free)
-[X] Arcana Burst (Simon Magus) CHT B to A (-2 Plants)
-[X] Arcana Burst (Kaneki-Neko) MAG B to A (-2 Devil)
-[X] Enhance Armament-Urashima Taro (-3 Points, 2 Fortune, 1 Free)
-[X] Arcana Burst (Undine) VIT D to C (-1 Free)
My plan is more focused on upgrading base statistics compared to the other two because I feel like they're buying Release Recollections and Enhanced Armaments just for the sake of having them when we're most likely to never use them. Mainly, upgrading Kaneki-Neko's MAG to make him more viable in combat so we can use his MISTCOIN-generating ability more reliably, upgrading Khodumodumo's STR to A because he's been our main bruiser and I want to see what 10 dice do to Lux's STR stat with the big guy and her two Excaliburs, and I'm using the last point upgrading Undine's VIT because she tends to act as our main while scouting the waters and because of OBERON's Holy Shield.
I'm kinda conflicted here. I think we should definitely focus on stats more that special abilities, but I really want to try Alice Liddell's release recollection. At least we all agree Urvashi's release recollection is a good idea.
You know, I'm going to be sad when we get the chance to reach rank 3 and have to fuse best devourer away. Specially because I don't know if the next one will still have the same kind of charm, you know?
i feel so bad for saying this but i assume that both the moved midterms result and meeting Shizuka and Karen are meant to be May 19 right? The 18th is a Sunday so we couldn't be in school to see the results and the threadmark puts PLANT 2 on the 19th (and Hiyori tells them it should all be over tomorrow which would imply this meeting is on the 19th as well). Though thankfully that's just two quick edits and not an actual time paradox I think.
[X] Plan: Full Potential (at the moment) and future proofing
With the Karen intro here I wonder if it's a sneak peek at a possible party member for us in the GGO Arc. She's presumably referring to BoB as the tournament where she wanted Shiroe to help her in which has a good chance of being where things go down in GGO. And LOL at Hiyori taking a page from her Shadow's book with Rain and Seven and pushing Shiroe into that meeting.
For the other two plans, I'm not sure why they're voting for Maneki-Neko's Enhance Armanent or Release Recollection. Both are very unreliable with the Enhance Armanent being guaranteed to target our teammates as much as our enemies.
Full Potential is also using two Arcana Roulettes on Simon Magus, a persona that doesn't properly use all of its stats, so there's a chance the Roulette is wasted on it by rolling a Strength raise on a persona with no physical skills. Also, as said by Zog, we ought to focus on stat raising, only taking Enhance Armaments and Release Recollection that are actually of use to us (unlike VR stats, Persona stats are permanent, so having Personas with better statlines available means that the start of a new arc doesn't leave us as weak as it normally would).
I'll admit to just not really being sure what's best from a mechanical standpoint, but from a meta standpoint, if we're getting a combat overhaul I think spending points on Release Recollections/Enhance Armaments is "safer" insofar as they're most likely to come out the other side of an overhaul largely intact whereas stats are a lot more nebulous and it would be unclear what exactly the real difference between, say, a C and B rank stat would be after a change. I don't exactly deny that based on our past experience it's not unlikely that we may never really make use of some of these but that's how I read the "future proofing" part of the plan.
Now even putting aside what things may look like after a hypothetical overhaul it's true that OBERON should be working off the system as we know it so there's still a clear value in the stats for that.
If we are going with a total combat overhaul, I'd recommend getting inspiration from something like FATE or another more narrative RPG system. All the fan Persona RPGs commit the sin of being too close to the Persona games. Meaning they forget that as a video game, the Persona games can offload a mountain of arithmetic, dice rolls, and basic algebra onto the computer. When you have to do all the bookkeeping by hand, complexity becomes a much bigger problem.
