AuthorPalt

Tutorial Rewrite 9

My body flies out of the shade of the tree, both swords raised high, successfully parrying two arrows. Another arrow pierces straight through my arm but I can still swing it so it doesn’t matter. Battle Focus is active and my vision is good enough to notice a few of the arrows as the light of the eclipse glints off their heads. A leap, a twist, a buckle, and I’m in the shade of the next tree. Without pausing at all, I jump towards the next, catching an arrow to my knee but still continuin...

Tutorial Rewrite 8

And that’s why I’m sitting here, in the shade of an especially large tree, using my [Meditation (Lv.9)] skill. Now that it’s gotten pretty high, I can easily get into that place that took me hours before. The perfect darkness. It makes the pain feel more dull, and brings me away from the horror and darkness outside.

<A Canto appears to you.>

The only trouble is every time I reach this state, this thing pops up. And, no, I checked, and it’s still the same thing. Basic...

Tutorial Rewrite 7

It doesn’t seem like I’m going to be attacked by anything anytime soon, so if I wanted to, I could probably hang around here until that timer went down completely. The issue is that I don’t know what happens when the second attempt rolls around. I was only able to survive like this because everyone was in the way of the arrows, so I was only hit in my arms and legs and stuff. If I had to redo this stage, I’d probably die instantly.

Now that I think about it… The arrows really ...

Tutorial Rewrite 6

…Okay?

When I peek open my eyes, the window is gone, but if I close them, it returns again. I have no idea what that is or what it means. It’s some sort of European language I think, maybe Latin? Spanish? Italian? Who knows. What I do know is that I have no idea what it’s supposed to translate to. I mean, even if it is Latin or something, that doesn’t help me. Hm. Now that I look at it, considering that mezzo is middle in Italian, I guess this must be that fate...

Tutorial Rewrite 5

Darkness. Howling winds. A strange whistle reaches my ears, like a loosened arrow, and all of a sudden everything is very, very cold, like a late autumn evening. I stumble forward, and find that the black ground beneath my feet is stiff with cold dirt and rocks. Goosebumps spread across my body in an instant. Roots like veins crawl across the ground.

Something feels wrong. Something feels very wrong. “E-, everyone, are you still—,”

Whirling around, I find that I am ...

Tutorial Rewrite 4

I point a finger at the girl. “And her?”

He blinks at me before shrugging apathetically. “Is it even important? She’s not going to be any useful. If anything, she’ll just be in our way.” I’m not sure whether I agree or disagree with him. Even if I have no choice but to fight with these as my teammates, calling her useless is a bit… I mean, she’ll be far from crucial, but if nothing else she can at least be a meat shield.

Ignoring his words, I di...

Tutorial Rewrite 3

I shoot up to my feet. And the second I do, another one of those screens pop up just before my eyes.

<Time Until Floor 1 Opening:

23:49:03>

A timer? It seems to be counting down…

So, if I get it right, in 23 hours and 50 minutes or so, the first floor will open.

…The first floor of what?

I guess it must be the tutorial, but that doesn’t say anything else, either. How many floors are there? What happens after the tutorial? Does it even h...

Tutorial Rewrite 2

…me?

Where-, where am I…?

Everything is so bright, and my head hur—,

—No. No, it doesn’t. My hand only barely has time to touch my temple before I realise that my head doesn’t hurt. It’s been months since my head has last felt this… clear. The eternal chill in my limbs is gone. The rattle in my lungs is gone. My knees don’t feel crunchy. What in the world—,

And then I realise that my eyes are also okay. My eyes. To reiterate, my vi...

Tutorial Rewrite 1

By  this point, it’s really only a matter of days until I either starve to  death or get killed in some desperate attempt to avoid the  aforementioned. Personally, though, I’m leaning towards just starving to  death. Worse ways to croak and all that.

More than  that, I’ve got to admit that I’m really a bit surprised that I lasted  this long. Sure, I failed my homelessness-speedrun any%, but what can  you do? Maybe I’ll at least place somewhat...

Digimon Ch.21

I flip up my visor and try to bring it to my mouth for a big ol’ bite, but it’s too big and won’t go in through the opening. Hum. Considering it’s comprised of data, I should technically be able to just crack it open like any other living creature. I kind of want to just karate-chop it open with my gauntlet, but if I get coconut juice in there, it’s never getting out. Probably. I actually don’t know how this works, so I might be able to just wash it normally, but I don’t want to...

Digimon Ch.20

“Found you! You pay now or you die!”

I startle awake, but instead of either flying to my feet or falling off my bed branch, I find myself tied up on the ground. Oh, and a blaster is being waved in my face. Admittedly, the toy-gun does look a bit more intimidating when the nuzzle is right between my eyes, but I still can’t bring myself to fear the grey alien holding said blaster.

I wiggle a little. Yup, I’m tied up. At least I’m not hanging from a tree or anything, but ra...

Digimon Ch.19

I whirl around to face the voice. Before me, standing slightly shorter than myself, is a digimon. I assume it is a digimon because I can’t accept the existence of aliens within the digital world.

It just… it just looks like an alien. That’s all. Like a little grey man with big green eyes. It would be more alien-like if it wasn’t wringing its hands like an anxious salesman, but it still looks like an alien. It even has a little laser blaster clipped to a small belt around its wai...

Digimon Ch.18

…

H-, huh?!

I wake up with a startle, and I try to swim up, but instead I just fall back down, my arms grasping for the branch in panic. In the end, I’m hugging the tree like a sloth, upside down, my chest heaving.

Okay. Okay. I’m alive. I’m not dead. But… but it’s still dark. What is even…?

Oh, that’s what.

The sound of shopping cart wheels.

Far below me, if I arch my neck, I can see silhouettes. Not humanoid, not monsterlike, just...

Innomon Evolutions Egg, Baby and Child

Digimon Ch.17

It takes a few minutes to re-learn how to walk, and by the end of my extensive training arc, the sun has gone down fully. Shit. Everything has turned dark grey and blue. I still can’t see the moon, but if I catch so much as a glimpse of it, I’m probably dead. Evolving into a slightly bigger form has certainly not done enough to close that gap.

Walking almost robotically, I enter the inner part of the island. There are pine trees. Now, to be fair, I have not been feeling any amount o...

Digimon Ch.16

When I wake up again, the sun is beating down on me from above. The sky is blue. In the corner of my vision, I can see the leaves of a coconut tree, swaying gently. It smells like sand and my back feels hot. Cold but gentle waves beat against the soles of my feet.

I take a deep breath. It sounds ragged and it hurts and I have to sit up, coughing and sputtering. After a few seconds, I pull myself together again. I breathe in, I breathe out.

Breathe in, breathe out…

I blink....

Digimon Ch.15

The massive swarm of fish, resembling more of a solid cloud than a school of fish, moves into action. Now, I can’t say I’ve ever been attacked by a fish before, but I can imagine that a thousand of them, descending upon me in a concentrated stream, might work to do some harm. Especially so if they decide to focus on my already opened wound.

I draw back slightly, but my fate is already sealed.

The thousands of fish spread out around me, encapsulating me in a thick, blackening s...

Digimon Ch.14

See, currently, I’m faced with the most heavy-handed physical representation of the consequences of my actions. Apparently, the herald of my retribution has taken the form of a small seal-looking thing. Funnily enough, it’s only slightly bigger than me. That said, it really does look like a seal. Except it’s white, has a red mohawk, and basically no tail. Oh, and its claws are enormous. So barely anything like a seal at all.

“Release my friends!” it cries, waving its right fli...

Digimon Ch.13

To that, I have no answer, so I give none. For a few seconds, Bukamon simply stares at my back. Then he swims a bit further away. “I-, I’m not going to stop you or anything, but… But I just can’t watch,” he whimpers. And then, he swims away. I don’t watch him leave, but I can imagine where he’s going. Popping all the fish takes a few minutes, and by the end of it, I feel beyond full. Stronger. Faster. Bigger.

Since I can’t just leave the fishnet lying around, I remove th...

Digimon Ch.12

“P-, pichi…?”

Oh, damn it all!

I throw the detested little creature to the side. It bounces over the sands for a bit before coming to a stop, where it digs itself back down into the sand. Great, I just lost part of my breakfast. What a waste.

My eye falls to the sand in between my claws.

Internally growling, I kick off and swim away. Fine, I guess I’ll just try to catch the fish. I would’ve needed to do this eventually, anyways. This just happened to occur a ...

Digimon Ch.11

…

…Hm? Where… am I? Where’s dad?

Dad?...

I open my eyes. No, eye. I can hear snoring. It’s dark, but part of this place is lit by a very small flame. That’s… Bukamon. Yeah. Right, I’m not… I’m not at home anymore.

It’s so dark. I try to heave my body off the sandy ground but I don’t have any arms, all I have is a pair of legs and everything feels so floaty, like I’m on the moon. My legs work but my feet are way too long—I have no choice but ...

Digimon Ch.10

“Come on Innomon, catch up!” Bukamon calls, and I honestly didn't even notice him starting to swim away. I’ve always had a penchant for slipping into my own thoughts, so I quickly shake my head and begin swimming towards him. He doesn’t seem completely happy about how slowly I’m catching up, but he doesn’t complain, simply waiting for me to catch up.

By the time we’ve arrived ‘home,’ it’s actually gotten dark and I’m frankly starting to get very, very tire...

Digimon Ch.9

Sure I’m real. My name is Roy, and I’m real. I’m a human. Well, I used to be, but… But I still am! I may not look like the typical human, but inside, I’ve got all the humanities I need. I just have to get back to civilization and all of this will go away.

…I wonder, if I got bitten, would I also explode into pixels?

I shake my head violently, but it makes my neck hurt as it scratches against the stone brace.

That’s not important! What is important is t...

Digimon Ch.8

“Here we are!” Bukamon exclaims cheerily, bringing me out of my brooding. I look around, expecting something edible, only finding an underwater clearing filled with colourful seaweed swaying up from between the rocks, looking a lot like massive strands of rainbow hair. I glance around. The little clearing is squeezed in-between a number of large rocks, making it feel pretty disconnected from the rest of the ocean. However, it doesn’t feel dark or anything, in large part because the area...

Digimon Ch.7

I’m starting to notice an annoying pattern in the names that these monsters refer to themselves (and me) by. Being a civil and well-meaning human being, I open my mouth to respond. Oh, wait, there’s an eyeball in my mouth. I forgot. Funny thing, huh?

Bukamon stares at me. I stare at Bukamon.

It hums. “Hmm, are you sure you’re an aquatic digimon? You don’t really look like it… Do you want help getting to File Island?”

Now that’s just condescending.

“Yo...

Roy Evolutions Concept Art

Digimon forms are so inconveniently designed it’s hilarious

Digimon Cover Art

Digimon Ch.6

Huh. Something here feels… Weird. My body is… Something is wrong. I feel… Not bad, not good, just…

My heart beats like a gong. I buckle over but there’s nothing to empty and I feel small and big and sick. All of my limbs are trembling. The world is becoming blurry but no matter how much I blink it won’t go away. I feel so much it’s like the world suddenly went into high definition and yet I can’t feel anything at all: I’m totally numb.

My body doesn’t even feel...

Digimon Ch.5

“Ah!” he exclaims as he throws himself to catch it like it’s an authentic fabergé. In the meantime, I instead throw myself into running at full speed, and by the time he’s saved the egg and put it somewhere safe, I’m gone.

At least, that was my intention. I was able to get into the forest before he caught up with me again. This time though, instead of physically tackling me, he’s tossing balls of electricity my way. This should be illegal. How does that even work? Where is ...

Digimon Ch.4

I could probably steal one of his nappy bottles somehow. Maybe even get a fish, like he promised. If I ran back to the crib I used to be in, I could be in, get fed, and out before he even knew what happened.

…Ooooooor, I can eat another ball of jelly.

My stomach grumbles again. Yup, the answer is obvious. Jelly for lunch, jelly for dinner. Is this just my lifestyle now?

Then again, since I plan on going out to sea afterwards, I’ll probably be getting a lot of fi...